22 Irish Boxers included in latest Four Nations Rankings
Ireland have twenty-two amateur fighters ranked in the latest edition of the Boxing News’ Four Nations Ratings.
The Top Tens, as of January 21st, feature fighters from Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales, with this update factoring in the EU Championships and a host of multi-nations tournaments.
English fighters top the ladder in five of the ten weights, Scotland are pole in one, and FOUR Irish fighters top their weight categories – Kirill Afanasev at heavyweight, Joe Ward at light heavyweight, Kurt Walker at bantam, and Brendan Irvine at flyweight.
Following his return from the pros, Regan Buckley is installed as the #2 light flyweight behind Scot Aqeel Ahmed. National Elite Senior champ Connor Jordan (St Aidan’s) is in at #7.
Commonwealth silver medallist Brendan Irvine (St Paul’s) remains #1 at flyweight ahead of a big year and is joined by Belfast rival Conor Quinn (Clonard) at #9.
At bantamweight, which will become featherweight in the next update, Kurt Walker (Canal) has overtaken Peter McGrail following his win against the Scouser in the EU Championships final. A busy weigh for Irish boxers, the recently turned pro Tommy McCarthy (Mayfield) is #6 while St Francis duo Myles and Tommy Casey are #7 and #9 respectively.
At lightweight, Elite Senior champ George Bates (St Mary’s) is at #4 while last year’s champ Pat Mongan (Olympic) is at #4
Elite Senior champion Wayne Kelly (Portlaoise) is the #4 light welterweight while Commonwealth bronze medallist James McGivern has been installed at #8 following his move up in weight..
At welterweight Ireland have EU bronze medallist Kieran Molloy (Oughterard) in at #3.
Middleweight Elite Senior champion Michael Nevin (Portlaoise) is #2 while Gabriel Dossen (Olympic) is a new entry at #6 following some strong showings internationally.
Joe Ward (Sparticus) remains top at light heavyweight, extending his long reign, and he has been joined on the ladder by Tommy Hyde (Mayfield) who comes in at #10.
Kirill Afanasev (Smithfield) is now top at heavyweight while Elite runner-up Kevin Sheehy is #5 and new 91kg fighter Tony Browne is #7.
Finally, at super heavyweight, Dean Gardiner (Clonmel) creeps up to #2 while Martin Keenan (Rathkeale) moves up to #4.
Notable Irish absences from the list include Elite Senior runner-ups Brett McGinty (Oakleaf), Brian Kennedy (St Mary’s), Eugene McKeever (Holy Family Drogheda), Frankie Cleary (Ballina), and Caoimhin Ferguson (Clonard), as well as nine of the ten new Ulster Senior champions along with a number of top internationls and major medallists such as Ken Okungbowa (Athlone), Dean Walsh (St Ibar’s/St Joseph’s), Aidan Walsh (Monkstown), and Paddy Donovan (OLOL).
The rankings in full can be found in this week’s edition of the Boxing News.
