BILLY WALSH, the Irish head coach, believes our boxers are well capable of upgrading the colours of their medals at the European Elite Championships in Bulgaria on Friday.
Michael Conlan, Dean Walsh and Joe Ward will be between the ropes in the semi-finals of the 41st edition of the tournament in Samokov on Friday afternoon and evening. The trio are all guaranteed at least bronze and have also qualified for October’s World Elite Championships and Rio 2016 qualifiers in Doha, Qatar.
Walsh has one eye on Ireland’s proud run of finishing in top three positions in the medals tables at the last three European Elite Championships.
“We’re looking to change the colour of the medals, absolutely. The guys are one fight away from the finals at a major tournament and there’s no reason we can’t do it, said Walsh.
“Dean is going in as the underdog, but he’s capable of performing, Michael and Joe also. Joe is in against a very experienced campaigner, the number one seed, but is capable of beating him. The draw hasn’t been kind to us here, but we have three in the last-four and there’s no reason why they can’t go further.”
Conlan meets Italian bantam Francesco Maietta, an opponent he sparred in training camp in Sheffield earlier this summer.
“I only went one round with him. He’s quite awkward, but I’m happy enough, happy that I’ll beat him. I only come into a competition for one thing, the gold," said the No.1 seed.
“I don’t feel the pressure. It’s another day, another fight. The pressure is getting it over with and getting the job done.”
Joe Ward, who should arguably be the No. 1 seed, meets the actual No. 1 seed, Croatian light-heavy Hrvoje Sep. Ward, a bronze medal winner at the 2013 World Elites, is targeting a second European gold.
An experienced World Series of Boxing fighter, Sep lost to Russia’s Nikita Ivanov in the 2011 European Elite semi-final. Ward, then aged just 17, beat Ivanov in the final.
“He’s been around all right and I’ll have to perform to my best. I’ve got good wins under my belt out here and I’ll be aiming for another on Friday,” said Ward, who is signed with AIBA Pro Boxing.
Walsh is in against Russia’s Vitaly Dunaytev, who beat the Wexford light-welter on a unanimous decision in the last-four of the Feliks Stamm Memorial in Warsaw last year.
Meanwhile, Irish welter Adam Nolan will be keeping an eye on today’s bout between Belarus’ Pavel Kastramin, who beat Nolan in the last-eight, and Sweden’s Clarence Goyeram.
The top six boxers in each class in Samokov – the semi-finalists and quarter-finalists that lose to the finalists – qualify for October’s World Championships. Likewise, if Kastramin wins on Friday, Nolan will qualify for Doha.
FRIDAY’S SEMI-FINALS
(live on RTÉ2 from 12.30pm)
56kg: M Conlan (Ireland) v F Maietta (Italy); A Avagyan (Armenia) v Q Ashfaq (Great Britain)
64kg: D Walsh (Ireland) v V Dunaytev (Russia); E Petrauskas (Lithuania) v P McCormack (Great Britain)
81kg: J Ward (Ireland) v H Sep (Croatia); J Buatsi (Great Britain) v P Mullenberg (Netherlands)
