| Ireland’s amateurs strike gold
as Murray wins again  There’s
no shortage of quality punching power in Ireland if recent results at
the National Stadium are any indication.
Ireland collected seven gold and three silver medals to top the table
in amateur boxing’s Four Nations championships with all 10 contenders
reaching their respective finals.
The championships also unearthed a new middleweight talent in Darren Sutherland,
who out-pointed England’s highly-ranked James Degale in the semi-finals
before seeing off Scottish rival Andrew McKelvie.
Dubliner Conor Ahearn, who claimed a silver as a light flyweight in Liverpool
12 months ago, moved up a division to claim Ireland’s first gold
of the weekend by outclassing Welsh rival Chris Jenkins in a third-round
stoppage. Kildare bantamweight David Joyce, from the St. Michaels club
in Athy, also struck gold in the next contest with a 29-11 win over Welshman
Matt Edmunds.
There was a double Cavan connection in the light welterweight final where
David Nevin had a narrow 17-16 verdict over England’s Jamie Cox
whose own grandfather was a Breffni man.
Roy Sheahan followed in the footsteps of Karl Brabazon as Ireland claimed
gold at welterweight and lightweight John Joe Joyce was the third member
of the Athy gym to climb to the top of the rostrum. Finally Kenneth Egan
claimed the light heavyweight gold with a confident points win over Scotland’s
Kevin Sanderson.
In professional boxing St. Albans-based Andrew Murray recorded his fourth
consecutive victory over Ian Reed from Balham at the Connaught Rooms in
London’s West End last Thursday. It was the Cavanman’s first
victory inside the distance when the referee stopped the fight after two
minutes and 29 seconds of the fourth round.
Murray’s next appearance is scheduled for March 31 at the King’s
Hall in Belfast where he will appear on the undercard of the Brian Magee-Carl
Froch fight.
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