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John Joe Nevin, left, dodges a punch from Branimir Stankovic. ©INPHO/Huw Evans

Nevin turned over on WSB return

Joe Ward made a winning start to his World Series of Boxing career, but there was disappointment for Olympic hero John Joe Nevin.

JOHN JOE NEVIN was pipped in a split decision as he returned to the ring this evening.

Fighting for the first time since winning Olympic silver, Nevin was edged out on the judges’ scorecards by Branimir Stankovic in the World Series of Boxing.

The Mullingar native was one of the stars of the bantamweight class in London but moved up in division to fight his Serbian opponent at lightweight.

Stankovic won 48-47 47-48 47-48 but it was Nevin’s British Lionhearts team which took home the points from the five-bout card against Italia Thunder in Celtic Manor, Wales.

In the evening’s light-heavyweight bout, Moate’s Joe Ward got off to a perfect start on his WSB debut with a unanimous win against Imre Szello.

Ward didn’t drop a single round on any of the judges’ cards as he cruised to a 50-45 50-45 50-45 victory over his Hungarian opponent.

Joseph Joyce and Team GB Olympic silver medallists Andrew Selby and Freddie Evans all won their bouts as the Lionhearts won 4-1, making it two from two for the team this season.

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