Belfast Boys OUT of Feliks Stamm tournament
By Bernard O’Neill – IABA Press Officer
Ireland’s Elite squad has been hit by injuries ahead of the Feliks Stamm multi-nations which begin in Warsaw, Poland tomorrow.
Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine and Sean McComb are out of the tournament.
Barnes picked up a stomach bug, while Irvine and McComb, who have both qualified for next month’s World Elite Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Doha, Qatar, have slight hand injuries.
Irish head coach Billy Walsh confirmed that the trio were out early this morning.
Current European Games champion Michael O’Reilly, Ceire Smith and Wayne Kelly will represent Ireland at the 32nd edition of the Feliks Stamm.
O’Reilly, Irvine, McComb, Michael Conlan, Dean Walsh, Adam Nolan and Joe Ward have qualified for month’s AIBA World Elite Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Doha, Qatar.
The Irish World Championships squad will have their final training camp in Assisi, Italy from September 23rd with the host nation and Belarus before traveling to Doha on October 2nd.
Meanwhile, Michael Conlan (gold), Dean Gardiner (silver), David Oliver Joyce (bronze) and Dean Walsh (bronze) finished in podium positions at the 2014 Feliks Stamm tournament.
The Irish squad flew out to Poland this morning. Boxing begins tomorrow.
Irish squad 2015 Feliks Stamm
51kg Ceire Smith (Cavan)
64kg Wayne Kelly (Ballynacargy)
75kg Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise)
Team Manager: Billy O’Connor
Coaches; Billy Walsh: and Zauri Antia
Physiotherapist: Ursula Brooks
R/J: Larry Durand
