15 year old Irish boxing star punched by Russian coach in Germany
A rising Irish boxing starlet was allegedly assaulted in Germany at the weekend.
Mullingar’s Mary Kate Nevin was hospitalised following an incident at the team hotel in Stralsund.
The 15 year old, fresh from winning gold and the Best Boxer award at the Queens Cup torunament, was confronted by a Russian coach due to making noise in a corridor on Saturday night. The Irish team captain was reportedly punched by the angered Russian coach and went to hospital for treatment
Irish team manager Bernie Harold spoke to Independent.ie about the incident and described how “they were all put to bed, the coaches were downstairs having a cup of coffee and that’s when it happened.”
“Mary Kate and another girl went to get a drink of coke from another girl in another room.”
“This man came out of the room and he punched her in the eye.”
“Nevin was taken to a hospital where staff attended to her and felt she was in sufficient condition to return to the hotel.”
“We are absolutely appalled by what happened. The IABA [Irish Athletic Boxing Association], the Russian Federation and the world body will be investigating it.”
“A report has been made to police and we are going to pursue this. We will not let this rest.”
Thankfully, Harold explained that Nevin is recovering well, saying that “she’s good. I brought her to the hospital last night and they were happy to let me bring her back to the hotel. Myself and the coaches stayed up with her through the night. She’s good.”
“It’s a huge thing for Mary Kate at the moment. She was the best boxer the tournament. She beat a hugely talented Russian along the way and it is a shame for something like this to happen.”
“She’s a very, very talented boxer. She has huge future ahead of her.”
The Irish Junior squad scooped the Best Team award at the tournament, which essentially acted as an alternate European Championships due to the lack of numbers who participated in the recent European Championships in Turkey due to safety concerns.
Between the Junior and Youth sides, Ireland brought home 15 medals, including seven golds.
