Ireland name high-quality squad for International v England next week

Three Olympians, Brendan Irvine, Joe Ward, and Darren O’Neill, will feature in the nine-person Irish team for next week’s International match with England.

The fight night takes place on Friday December 16th at the National Stadium in Dublin.

Boasting a total of twelve senior international medals between them, it is a high-quality squad for the clash which will bring the curtain down on the 2016 Irish boxing season.

The night will most notably feature the debut of Dublin’s Kelly Harrington at lightweight. The Glasnevin boxer claimed World Championships silver this year at light welter, but will now move down to the Olympic weight of 60kg as she targets the Tokyo Games.

Irish team manager Larry Morrison anticipates an eagerly contested international.

“England are a world class boxing nation and are old rivals. There have been many fantastic internationals between both nations down through the years and we are very much looking forward to the renewal of rivalries,” he said.

Irish squad v England
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Pauls)
56kg Stevie McKenna (Old School)
60kg Kelly Harrington (Glasnevin)
60kg George Bates (St Marys)
64kg Sean McComb (Holy Trinity)
75kg Conor Wallace (St Monicas)
75kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgans)
81kg Joe Ward (Moate)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)

Doors open at the National Stadium at 6:30pm