Punch Drunk - the boxing thread

[IanD]

It's not the administrators that should get the credit. It's the high performance unit - Joe Hennigan, Billy Walsh, Zuar Antia, Eddie Bolger and John Cleary, Conor McCarthy and Gerry Hussey - that are working with the elite boxers that deserve the credit. The nonsense around Billy Walsh's contract after London and the way they treated Pete and Katie Taylor around the Women's European Championhips highlighted just how amateur the administrators of the IABA truly are.

My point was more around who the High Performance Unit report directly to. All Irish Sport Associations -Amateur and Professional - seem to have issues at the high levels but to me the IABA seem to be bowing above their weight (pardon the pun). There has to be something to learn from these people and their setup.

[Broken Wing]

I agree with you Ian. Other sports have to be looking at boxing as an example.

The Irish women's cross country team are currently the top in Europe but, as seems to be typical of administration in so many Irish sports, almost had to fight to be allowed field a team in the World Championships in Poland (where they finished as the top European team). That said Athletics Ireland have a HIgh Performance Director and have recently published their High Performance Plan 2013-2016. From their website the key points of Athletics Ireland’s High Performance Plan are:

1. 1st plan of its type in Irish athletics
2. Ambition is to have “more Irish athletes winning on world stage”
3. Target 24 medal opportunities at major championships
4. Provides both a vision and a practical framework for success
5. It’s an evidence and systems based approach which is sustainable in the long term
6. It’s designed to provide athletes with support across every aspect of High Performance
7. Will require change of approach – from AAI, athletes, coaches
8. It’s an investment in the future of Irish athletics
9. High Performance strategies are proven to deliver success

The indoor stadium in Athlone should be a massive boost to the sport and hopefully this plan will see a bigger presence on the podium although the World Championships in Moscow in August will probably come too soon. That said their aim seems to be medal opportunities rather than actual medals which would mean athletes making finals. Baby steps I suppose.

[Broken Wing]

The Irish Senior Women's team going to the EUBC European Union Championships in Keszthely, Hungary:

48kg: Lynne McEnery (St Pauls)
51kg: Ceire Smith (Cavan)
54kg: Dervla Duffy (Ryston)
57kg: Michaela Walsh (Holy Family)
60kg: Katie Taylor (Bray)
64kg: Kelly Harrington (Corinthians)
69kg: Claire Grace (Callan)
75kg: Sinead Kavannagh (Drimnagh)
81kg: Leanne Murphy (Carrickmacross)

[Broken Wing]

Results so far:
48Kg Lynne McEnerny lost to Meltem Akar (TUR) 0-3
51Kg Ceire Smith lost to Sandra Drabik (POL) 1-2
54Kg Dervla Duffy beat Fatlume Ahmeti (KOS) 3-0, lost to Delphine Mancini (FRA) 1-2
57Kg Michaela Walsh lost to Ornella Wahner (GER) 1-2


Katie Taylor faces Benke Sara (TUR) in a quarter final today. Natasha Jonas (ENG) boxes in the quarter finals this evening but it's very hard to get details on the draws so I've no idea at what stage she may face Katie. The youth and juniors are on at the same time leading me to believe that the 64Kg to 81Kg elites have not yet begun.

[Broken Wing]

Katie wins by TKO in Round 4 guaranteeing herself at least a bronze medal.

I can also confirm that Tasha Jonas is on the other side of the draw so all going well we'll get a rematch of the Olympic quarter final.

[Broken Wing]

Three Irish senior women in semi final action today.

Katie Taylor faces Mira Poktonen (FIN) at 60kg. Fresh from her win over Ioanna Vucic (Cro) Claire Grace meets France's Erika Guerrier at 69Kg and Leanne Murphy is up against Danijela Vernic (COR) at 81Kg.

At 64Kg Kelly Harrington lost to Hungary's Nagy Bianca and Sinead Kavannagh (75Kg) lost to N. Mireille Fotijn (NED) in the quarter finals yesterday.

Taking the Youths and Juniors into account Ireland will be taking home 14 medals from the Championships. The colour of nine of them are still to be determined.

[Broken Wing]

Katie Taylor has won her semi final and will face Estelle Mossley of France in the final. Mossely, who won gold at 57Kg in 2010, beat England's Natasha Jonas in her semi.

Leanne Murphy also won her semi final but I don't yet know who she meets in the final.

[Amz]

Great work by the ladies. Just shows how positive an influence Taylor has been for the sport!

[domhnallj]

Well done KT.

[Broken Wing]

The full list of Irish medals from the EU Women's Championships:
Gold (5)
Katie Taylor (60Kg) Senior
Kristina O'Hara (48Kg) Youth
Jacqui Lynch (48Kg) Junior
Grainne Gavin (54Kg) Junior
Amy Broadhurst (57Kg) Junior

Silver (3)
Leanne Murphy (81Kg) Senior
Niamh Ball (57Kg) Youth
Ciara Sheedy (63Kg) Youth

Bronze (7)
Claire Grace (69Kg) Senior
Christine Gargan (54Kg) Youth
Christine Desmond (69Kg) Youth
Cathy Higgins (75Kg) Youth
Maeve McCarron (81Kg) Youth
Ciara Ginty (60Kg) Junior
Leah Marie Doyle-Roche (66Kg) Junior

Katie Taylor was also named Boxer of the Tournament.

Katie's win on Saturday means she now has 5 European and 5 EU Gold medals. All going well she'll be heading to Edmonton in Canada next year to add a 5th World gold to that list.

[Broken Wing]

The Elite Men's World championships start in Kazakhstan today.

There's been a bit of weight shuffling from the Irish team for this. John Joe Nevin isn't taking part as he considers a move to professional following the collapse of the British Lionhearts WSB team. In his absence, Ireland's Olympic bronze medalists have both moved up a weight, Michael Conlan from 52Kg to 56Kg and Paddy Barnes from 49Kg to 52Kg.

Following the draw, where 4 Irish boxers were seeded, the only Irish boxer in action today is heavyweight Tommy MacCarthy who faces Bulgaria's Nikolay Mutavski.

The draw is as follows:

October 14th:
91Kg - Tommy McCarthy V Nikolay Mutavski - Last 64

October 15th:
60kg Sean McComb v Almog Briga (Israel) - Last 64
64kg Ray Moylette v Alexandros Tsanikidis (Greece) - Last 64

October 16th:
69kg Adam Nolan v Souleymane Cissokho (France) - Last 64

October 18th:
52kg Paddy Barnes v Milos Baltic (Serbia) or Qingxian Mai (China) - Last 32

October 19th:
56kg Michael Conlan v Kriszthan Nagy (Hungary) or Helsham Abdelaal (Egypt) - Last 32
75kg Jason Quigley v Vijender (India (AIBA) or Hampus Henriksson (Sweden) - Last 32
91+kg Con Sheehan v Yohanndi Ortega (Cuba) - Last 32

October 20th:
81kg Joe Ward v Mateusz Tryc (Poland) or Rauf Rahimov (Azerbaijan) - Last 32

Tommy McCarthy is expected in the ring around 3.30.

[Broken Wing]

Forgot to mention that these World Championships are being fought without headgear meaning cuts will become a big factor. Expect to see fighters pulling out of the later rounds.

[Peg Leg]

Conlan seeded?

[Broken Wing]

Yeah Conlan, Barnes, Quigley and Ward were all seeded. I don't pretend to understand how a boxer can be seeded when switching weight but there you go.

Steve Bunce mentioned how messy the WSB was with cuts but no cutmen in the corners and suggesting that the same will be true of these championships.

[Peg Leg]

Yeah Conlan, Barnes, Quigley and Ward were all seeded. I don't pretend to understand how a boxer can be seeded when switching weight but there you go.

Steve Bunce mentioned how messy the WSB was with cuts but no cutmen in the corners and suggesting that the same will be true of these championships.

Yeah, heard Kenneth talking about the head gear/cuts on the repeat of OTB this morning. He seemed perplexed as to why and pissed off that they're ploughing ahead (no pun intended) with it.

[Broken Wing]

As well as the lack of headgear these championships are being scored on a 10/9 system. This means that the boxer deemed to win the round gets 10 points to the loser's 9. A knockdown results in a point being deducted which can mean a 10-8 round. The winning of a round is now based on aggressiveness, ring control and defence as well as clean hits. Under the old system a clean hit was the only way to score a point. The new system means the scoring is more subjective.

Anyway, a unanimous victory for Tommy McCarthy 28-29, 27-30, 28-29.

[ribs]

so the scoring system is now the same as the pro ranks?

[Peg Leg]

It would seem that this is the pathway cleared for the pro's competing in 2016.
Enjoy it while you can, amateur boxing is on its way out.

[Broken Wing]

It would seem that this is the pathway cleared for the pro's competing in 2016.
Enjoy it while you can, amateur boxing is on its way out.

There are other steps being taken to allow pros return to compete in the Olympics and to allow amateurs compete as professionals but remain amateur. The APB is the biggest step but the lack of headgear and the scoring is a follow on from the way thigns are done in the WSB. Really it's an attempt ot allwo amateurs make a living from the sport while remaining amateur.

From AIBA:

In the fall of 2013 the launch of APB – AIBA Pro Boxing – will change the way professional boxing events are organized and run across the world.
APB will open up new horizons for boxers seeking to pursue their dreams as pros, within a transparent competition structure. For the first time, professional boxers can plan and track their career – backed fully by AIBA – and look forward to consistent support from their National Federations in return.

[Broken Wing]

A 3-0 win for Sean McComb this morning.