Ward, Conlan going for gold
JOE WARD and Michael Conlan will compete in today’s finals at the European Championship after both claimed impressive semi-final wins in Bulgaria.
Light- heavyweight Ward will meet Peter Mullenberg of Holland in the 81kg decider as he goes for a second European senior gold following his 2011 success, while Conlan will meet Qais Ashfaq in an Ireland-versus-England 54kg clash — with the Belfast bantamweight hoping to improve on his 2013 European silver.
Ward nearly claimed a clean sweep on each judges’ card last night in Samokov, dropping just one r ound on one offi cial’s scoresheets as he made easy work of the No 2 light-heavyweight seed Hrvoje Sep of Croatia.
The Moate man’s progress at the Europeans means he is one of seven Irish boxers to have booked their places at October’s World Championships in Doha, which will act as a qualifier for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.
Conlan is already qualified for the Olympics through the World Series of Boxing (WSB) tournament — along with fellow Belfast man Paddy Barnes — but the Falls Road fighter has used this event to shake off the rust.
The 23-year- old took a unanimous points win (30-27, 29-28, 2928) over Italian Francesco Maietta in Samokov, with Conlan bewildering his opponent by switching between orthodox and southpaw stances throughout the three rounds. ‘I’ve only had two weeks training for this competition but it’s all fallen into place for the final. I’m here to win it,’ Conlan told RTÉ after the bout.
‘I’m not performing anywhere near my best, but I’m still winning. I had to cut a lot of weight in two weeks to come here, and I think that’s playing a part i n my performances, but even at that, I’m happy enough as long as I’m winning.’
Conlan will meet Britain’s Ashfaq i n today’s 54kg decider in a rematch of their Commonwealth Games final. ‘I fought the English guy before… I’m s ure he’s confident that he’ll win but I don’t lose,’ said Conlan.
Wexford light-welterweight Dean Walsh suffered a unanimous defeat (29-28 x 3) to the No 2 64kg seed, Vitaly Dunaytsev of Russia, yesterday but can take some consolation from the fact that his bronze medal guarantees him a place at the World Championships. ‘To qualify for the Worlds is a bonus and to win a medal out here... but still, I thought I should be in the final,’ said Walsh, nephew of Irish head coach Billy.
Meanwhile, welterweight Adam Nolan will also travel to Doha thanks to Pavel Kastramin of Belarus reaching the 69kg decider. Wexford native Nolan was defeated by Kastramin on Wednesday, but earns a place at the Worlds as he lost to an eventual finalist, guaranteeing a top-six place.