Conlan and Ward weigh in for European finals
By Bernard O’Neill – IABA Press Officer
Michael Conlan and Joe Ward and opponents weighed-in this morning ahead of their European Elite bantam and light-heavy finals in Samokov, Bulgaria.
Weights
Conlan – 55.7kg
Ward – 80kg
Conlan meets England’s Qais Ashfaq and Ward is in against Peter Mullenburg of the Netherlands..
“The boys weighted in an are looking forward to today’s finals. Hopefully, they can turn their silver medals into gold,” said Irish team manager Peter O’Donnell.
Today marks the third occasion in the last four years that Irish boxing will be targeting a brace of gold medals on the final day of competition at the European Elites.
In 2011, Ward and Ray Moylette won double gold in Turkey and in 2013 John Joe Nevin and Jason Quigley, who have since switched codes, won two gold medals in Belarus.
Ward will be aiming to become the first Irish male boxer to claim two European Elite gold medals at the 41st edition of the tournament since 1925 in Samokov.
Boxing begins at 4.30pm today (Irish time) and will be broadcast live on RTE2.
Team Ireland are due to arrive home from Bulgaria via Dublin airport at 4.55pm tomorrow, August 16th.
European Elite Championships 2015
August 7th
Preliminaries (last 32)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Ireland) beat Tadas Tamasauskos (Lithuania) 2-1
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Ireland) beat Delalic Abdulnaser (Bosnia & Herzegovina) 3-0
August 8th (last 32)
69kg Adam Nolan (Ireland) beat Onder Sipal (Turkey) 2-0
August 9th (last 32)
81kg Joe Ward (Ireland) beat Idris Shakhmonov (Russia) 3-0
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Ireland) lost to Filip Hrgovic (Croatia) 0-3
August 10th (last 16)
56kg Michael Conlan (Ireland) beat Anthony Brett (France) 3-0
64kg Dean Walsh (Ireland) beat Florentin Niculescu (Romania) 3-0
91kg Darren O’Neill (Ireland) lost to Evegeny Tischenko (Russia) 0-3
August 11th (last 16)
69kg Adam Nolan (Ireland) beat Radzhab Butaev (Russia) 3-0
81kg Joe Ward (Ireland beat Nikoloz Selchniashvili (Georgia) 3-0
August 12th (Q/Final)
56kg Michael Conlan (Ireland) beat Frederik Jensen (Denmark) 3-0
64kg Dean Walsh (Ireland) beat Nyeki Georgian (Hungary) 3-0
69kg Adam Nolan (Ireland) lost to Pavel Kastramin (Belarus) 0-3
81kg Joe Ward (Ireland) beat Mikhail Dauhaliavets (Belarus) 3-0
August 14th (S/Finals)
56kg Michael Conlan (Ireland) beat Francesco Maietta (Italy) 3-0
56kg Aram Avagyan (Armenia) lost to Qais Ashfaq (England) 0-3
64kg Dean Walsh (Ireland) lost to Vitaly Dunaytev (Russia) 0-3
64kg Evaldas Petrauskas (Lithuania) lost to Pat McCormack (England) 0-3
81kg Joe Ward (Ireland) beat Hrvoje Sep (Croatia) 3-0
81kg Joshua Buatsi (England) lost to Peter Mullenberg (Netherlands) 0-3
August 15th (Finals)
56kg Michael Conlan (Ireland) v Qais Ashfaq (England)
81kg Joe Ward Ireland) v Peter Mullenburg (Netherlanda)
Irish squad
52kg Myles Casey (St Francis)
56kg Michael Conlan (Clonard ABC) (Silver, at least)
64kg Dean Walsh (St Joesphs/St Ibars) (Bronze)
69kg Adam Nolan (Bray)
81kg Joe Ward (AIBA Pro Boxing) (Silver, at least)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)
Team Manager: Peter O’Donnell
Coaches: Billy Walsh, Zauri Antia and Eddie Bolger
Physiotherapist: Julianne Ryan
Sports Psychologist: Gerry Hussey
Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
Cuts Man: Dr John Haughey
