Nevin renew acquaintances with England’s Campbell in semis

IABA Press Officer Bernard O’Neill

John Joe Nevin and England’s Luke Campbell will renew acquaintances in Baku. Azerbaijan tomorrow.

Both boxers meet in the AIBA World Championships bantamweight semi-final on Friday two years after Hull-born Campbell, a gold medal winner at the 2008 European Championships in Liverpool, lost 13-2 to Nevin in the 2009 European Union semi-final in Odense, Denmark.

The winner of Friday’s Ireland v England duel will advance to meet either Lazaro Estrada-Alverez of Cuba or Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan in Saturday’s 56Kg final.

Mullingar-born Nevin, who boxes out of the Cavan BC, and Campbell are scheduled to be in the ring at approximately 11.30am (Irish time) tomorrow morning.

Nevin, 22, who claimed bronze at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan, became the first Irish male boxer to win two medals at World Championships level by virtue of reaching the last-four in Baku.

Lightweight Katie Taylor has won three gold medals at the AIBA World Women’s Championships since 2006.

Ireland’s AIBA World Men’s Championships Roll of Honour.

 

Light-middleweight – Tommy Corr (Clonoe BC) Munich 1982 Bronze

 

Light-welterweight – Michael Carruth (Drimnagh BC) Moscow 1989 Bronze

 

Flyweight – Damaen Kelly (Holy Trinity BC ) Tampere 1993 Bronze

 

Welterweight – James Moore (Arklow BC) Belfast 2001 Bronze

 

Bantamweight – John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC) Milan 2009 Bronze

 

Bantamweight – John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC) Baku (At least Bronze)

 

Nevin, Darren O’Neill and Michael Conlan qualified for the 2012 Olympics in Baku this week and Ireland will be represented at flyweight, bantamweight and middleweight at the 30th Olympiad.

 

Roy Sheehan could also qualify for the London Games tomorrow if Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania beats Sapiyev Serik of Kazakhstan in the welterweight semi-final (4pm Irish time).

 

Sheehan, of the St Michael’s Athy BC, was beaten by Kavaliauskas in the last-16.

 

However, boxers losing out in the last-16 in eight of the weight categories from light-fly to light-heavy will qualify for the Olympics if they were beaten by the eventual finalists in those weight classes.

 

Ninety two Olympic places will have been secured after Friday’s semi-finals conclude at the 113-nation AIBA World Championships and Olympic qualifiers.

 

Meanwhile, the Irish squad are scheduled to arrive home via Dublin Airport at 5.20pm Sunday.

 

Irish squad Flight details

 

BMI BD 928 09OCT Baku London Heathrow 1055 1300

 

BMI BD 129 09OCT London Heathrow Dublin 1600 1720