THREE-TIME EU champion David Oliver Joyce dismissed concerns over a facial cut at the European Olympic qualifiers in Samsun, Turkey on Tuesday as “just a scratch”.
The Irish Elite champion advanced on a unanimous decision - 29-27 across the board - over Georgian lightweight Otar Eranosyan to join Katie Taylor, Ceire Smith, Christina Desmond, Brendan Irvine and Darren O’Neill in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
Joyce needed medical attention to a cut near his right eye in the first round with Eranosyan, who he beat in 2014. He faces Vazgen Sufaryants of Belarus on Wednesday afternoon: “It’s just a scratch,” said the St Michael’s, Athy BC man.
“The last time I beat him, it was messier, but I stuck to my boxing this time. He was in my face a lot, but I nailed him with some big shots. I think he’s my toughest opponent. The coaches got the tactics right today. I’m absolutely raring to go, I have a great training camp behind me and can’t wait to get in the ring tomorrow.”
O’Neill forced Sweden’s Gabriel Richards into three standing counts in a first round TKO on Tuesday night to set up a last-eight duel with Azeri number one seed Abdulkadir Abdullayev, the current European Games heavyweight champion.
But Michael O’Reilly, the number one seed in the middleweight class in Samsun, will have to put his Olympic dreams on ice after a shoulder injury saw him crash out to Finland’s Ilari Kijala on a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 decision on Tuesday.
“My shoulder popped in the first round. I threw a jab and he threw a left hook and caught my shoulder, just wasn’t able to box with it. So Baku is next for me, the last qualifier in June,” said O’Reilly.
Pat Ryan, president of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, and O’Reilly’s coach at Portlaoise BC, is confident the European Games champion will be back for the Baku, the final qualifier for regular amateur boxing.
“Michael picked up a shoulder injury, that’s boxing, and we’re all disappointed. He’ll bounce back from this, he always does. The team are doing tremendously and we look forward to further success,” Ryan said.
Meanwhile, Katie Taylor meets Denmark’s Yvonne Rasmussen early on Wednesday evening, two wins away from qualifying for successive Olympics. Rasmussen began boxing in 2001 and has 94 bouts under her belt. She won a Danish welter (69kg) title last year, but has dropped two weights to lightweight (60kg).
