ON THE SECOND day of action for Irish boxers at the European leg of Olympic qualification at London’s Copper Box Arena, two of Belfast’s Irish Elite champions suffered contrasting fortunes as Aidan Walsh cruised into the last 16 in the men’s welterweight (69kg) division, while Carly McNaul bowed out in the women’s flyweight (52kg) class.
Walsh — the younger brother of Irish team-mate Michaela — was imperious in his unanimous-decision victory over Estonia’s Pavel Kamanin on Monday afternoon, barely taking a lick throughout a stylish three rounds.
With his hands holstered by his side, Walsh shimmied and danced his way into range after a tentative opener, finding his rhythm and, invariably, the face of Kamanin, who simply had no answers.
Walsh on the hunt with his trademark low guard.
Walsh rocked the Estonian in the second with a picture-perfect straight right hand, and countered with similar shots repeatedly as Kamanin went in search of the Hail Mary.
He didn’t come close, however, as the Monkstown BC (Antrim) man cantered into the round of 16 where he will meet Frenchman Wahid Hambli.
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Six fighters will qualify for Tokyo in the men’s welterweight division and so, if Walsh can see off Hambli, he’ll have two bites at the cherry. Four semi-finalists will progress to the Games, as will the winners of two box-offs between the four losing quarter-finalists.
Nevin is in a similar boat after steering himself past a tough test in the shape of Dutchman Max van der Pas.
The Laois man, a standout underage talent who won bronze at last year’s European Games, edged a scrappy affair on a 4-1 split decision.
There weren’t many clean blows to speak of from either man and, as such, there wasn’t much with which to separate them in any round; while three of the five judges gave all three rounds to the Irish fighter, one of them scored it the same way in favour of his Dutch opponent — and even that verdict was hardly scandalous given the nature of the contest.
The odd judge out had it 29-28 to Nevin, who just about landed the more eye-catching blows during a scrappy affair which saw Van der Pas cut safely north of his left brow.
Michael Nevin celebrates.
Nevin will face Arman Darchinyan on Wednesday after the Armenian eliminated Salvatore Cavallaro, the Italian who spectacularly knocked out Nevin in the European Games semi-final in Minsk last year.
Earlier, though, Carly McNaul saw her European qualification campaign come to an end as she was soundly beaten by Britain’s Charley Davison.
Belfast woman McNaul was typically game but picked apart by the prodigiously talented Brit, whose sharp backhand counters slung from the southpaw stance forced two standing counts of the Irishwoman in the third.
Carly McNaul has her gloves removed after a tough day at the office.
Despite the fact that McNaul was on the front foot throughout, Davison controlled the action, peppering her shorter opponent with a wide range of shots and using her height and reach advantage to stay well out of dodge.
The Brit, five years’ McNaul’s junior at 25, spent six years out of the ring and had three children before making her return last April, but didn’t miss a beat en route to a unanimous decision.
Next up for Ireland are flyweight (52) Brendan Irvine and bantamweight (57) Kurt Walker, who on Monday evening can become the first two of Bernard Dunne’s charges to book seats on the plane to Tokyo with victories this evening.
Team captain and Rio Olympian Irvine faces experienced Hungarian Istvan Szaka in his last-16 encounter at 52, a division in which all eight quarter-finalists will qualify for the Tokyo Games.
European champion Walker squares off with Germany’s Hamsat Shadalov at 57, where the same criteria apply.
All of the qualifiers, including Irvine (Ring A, 18:30) and Walker (Ring B, 19:45) are available to watch for free on OlympicChannel.com.
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Aidan Walsh and Michael Nevin advance to next round of Olympic qualifiers in London
LAST UPDATE | 16 Mar 2020
ON THE SECOND day of action for Irish boxers at the European leg of Olympic qualification at London’s Copper Box Arena, two of Belfast’s Irish Elite champions suffered contrasting fortunes as Aidan Walsh cruised into the last 16 in the men’s welterweight (69kg) division, while Carly McNaul bowed out in the women’s flyweight (52kg) class.
Portlaoise middleweight (75kg) Michael Nevin joined Walsh in securing his progression into the round of 16, become the fifth boxer to advance along with Emmet Brennan (81), George Bates (63) and Kiril Afanasev (91) who all won yesterday.
Walsh — the younger brother of Irish team-mate Michaela — was imperious in his unanimous-decision victory over Estonia’s Pavel Kamanin on Monday afternoon, barely taking a lick throughout a stylish three rounds.
With his hands holstered by his side, Walsh shimmied and danced his way into range after a tentative opener, finding his rhythm and, invariably, the face of Kamanin, who simply had no answers.
Walsh rocked the Estonian in the second with a picture-perfect straight right hand, and countered with similar shots repeatedly as Kamanin went in search of the Hail Mary.
He didn’t come close, however, as the Monkstown BC (Antrim) man cantered into the round of 16 where he will meet Frenchman Wahid Hambli.
Six fighters will qualify for Tokyo in the men’s welterweight division and so, if Walsh can see off Hambli, he’ll have two bites at the cherry. Four semi-finalists will progress to the Games, as will the winners of two box-offs between the four losing quarter-finalists.
Nevin is in a similar boat after steering himself past a tough test in the shape of Dutchman Max van der Pas.
The Laois man, a standout underage talent who won bronze at last year’s European Games, edged a scrappy affair on a 4-1 split decision.
There weren’t many clean blows to speak of from either man and, as such, there wasn’t much with which to separate them in any round; while three of the five judges gave all three rounds to the Irish fighter, one of them scored it the same way in favour of his Dutch opponent — and even that verdict was hardly scandalous given the nature of the contest.
The odd judge out had it 29-28 to Nevin, who just about landed the more eye-catching blows during a scrappy affair which saw Van der Pas cut safely north of his left brow.
Nevin will face Arman Darchinyan on Wednesday after the Armenian eliminated Salvatore Cavallaro, the Italian who spectacularly knocked out Nevin in the European Games semi-final in Minsk last year.
Earlier, though, Carly McNaul saw her European qualification campaign come to an end as she was soundly beaten by Britain’s Charley Davison.
Belfast woman McNaul was typically game but picked apart by the prodigiously talented Brit, whose sharp backhand counters slung from the southpaw stance forced two standing counts of the Irishwoman in the third.
Despite the fact that McNaul was on the front foot throughout, Davison controlled the action, peppering her shorter opponent with a wide range of shots and using her height and reach advantage to stay well out of dodge.
The Brit, five years’ McNaul’s junior at 25, spent six years out of the ring and had three children before making her return last April, but didn’t miss a beat en route to a unanimous decision.
Next up for Ireland are flyweight (52) Brendan Irvine and bantamweight (57) Kurt Walker, who on Monday evening can become the first two of Bernard Dunne’s charges to book seats on the plane to Tokyo with victories this evening.
Team captain and Rio Olympian Irvine faces experienced Hungarian Istvan Szaka in his last-16 encounter at 52, a division in which all eight quarter-finalists will qualify for the Tokyo Games.
European champion Walker squares off with Germany’s Hamsat Shadalov at 57, where the same criteria apply.
All of the qualifiers, including Irvine (Ring A, 18:30) and Walker (Ring B, 19:45) are available to watch for free on OlympicChannel.com.
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marching on Olympic qualifiers