Nevin documentary on RTE tonight
Former amateur stand out John Joe Nevin, pictured above, will feature on TV tonight.
The opening bell for John Joe: Reality Bites will toll at 9pm on RTE 2 this evening.
Nevin, the only Irish boxer besides Katie Taylor to medal at all the majors – Olympic, World, European and European Union Championships – is also the only Ireland boxer besides Taylor to secure more than one medal at the AIBA World Elite Championships. The ex Cavan BC bantamweight claimed bronze at the 2009 and 2011 Worlds in Milan, Italy and Baku, Azerbaijan.
Similarly, Nevin is also the only Irish boxer besides Taylor to be ranked No.1 in the World by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). He occupied that position for a number of months after winning gold at the 2013 European Elite Championships in Minsk, Belarus.
Nevin beat TJ Doheny to claim his first Elite title at Dublin’s National Stadium in 2008 and was named on the Ireland squad for the second last Olympic qualifier for European boxers in Italy in February/March that year.
Ostensibly, the two-time Irish Olympian was only called up to the Irish panel to gain international experience, but took his opportunity with both hands to become the only Irish boxer to qualify for Beijing 2008 in Italy after winning gold in Pescara.
The Irish Elite champion, who reached the 2012 Olympic final versus England’s Luke Campbell in London, won one fight at the Beijing Games but lost to eventual champion Enkhbat Badar-Uugan of Mongolia. The only time Nevin has been beaten at Olympic level has been by the eventual gold medallists.
Described as a bamtam who looks elusive even when standing still, Nevin also helped Paris United win the inaugural World Series of Boxing Championships in 2010/11.
Nevin switched codes with Tom Moran’s GreenBlood stable in Philadelphia after winning European Elite gold in Belarus in 2013.
He won his first fight in the pro ranks in Boston on St Patrick’s Day 2014, but was left fighting for his career after both his legs were broken in an altercation in April of that year.
However, showing the character and resilience that has made him an AIBA World No. 1 and one of the greatest international boxers of his generation, Nevin got back on his feet, quite literally, and has since won another two fights to improve to three wins from three in the pro ranks.
