Magnificent McDonagh and Moorehouse March On in Olympic Qualifiers
It was a case of two out of three ain’t bad for Team Ireland on the opening day of the Olympic Qualifiers in E-Work Arena in Busto Arsizio.
Martin McDonagh and Daina Moorehouse registered their first wins of the tournament, while it wasn’t to be for Sean Mari, who became the first Irish boxer to have his Olympic dream put on hold.
Crumlin super-heavy, McDonagh was first through the ropes and took the next step along his meteoric rise, defeating the experienced Ferely Ali Feliz to register the best win of his short career.
McDonagh – who claimed three Irish titles in a 10-month period – dominated a fancied Dominican to come away with a unanimous decision and a place in the last 32 of the competition.
Next up for the U22, Senior and Elite Irish champion is a final 32 clash with Turkey’s Yusuf Acik on Wednesday afternoon.
Moorehouse was equally impressive as she also moved to within three wins of an Olympic spot.
The Enniskerry flyweight was given what appeared to be a tough start but was too good for Vietnam’s Thi Tam Nguyen on Sunday night.
Wicklow’s latest boxing Wonder Woman won every round against the World Silver medalist to set up a last-32 fight with Venezuela’s Tayonis Cedeno on Friday afternoon.
Moorehouse’s fellow flyweight Mari wasn’t celebrating a win on day one of the tournament.
The Monkstown fighter lost to Romania’s Petre Cosmin Girleanu.
Mari’s focus will now shift to the second World qualifier in Bangkok, Thailand which is due to playout between May 23-June 3.
