IT’S the final that could have been as Aidan Walsh and England’s Harris Akbar prepare to go toe-to-toe at Birmingham’s NEC Arena this afternoon.
That this pair should meet before the medal stages exposes the flaws in an unseeded system, with the lower half of the light-welterweight draw packing nothing like the quality of a side that contains Walsh, European gold medallist Akbar and Wales’s European silver medallist Garan Croft.
Even though their only previous meeting was as youth boxers in a hotel in Westport nine years ago, Walsh and Akbar will be well aware of what each other brings into today’s quarter-final.
Standing tall and upright, it will be interesting to see how Akbar copes with the counter-punching speed and elusiveness of Olympic bronze medallist Walsh. This is a different type of test than he faced on the way to European gold in May – and Walsh will relish the opportunity to silence the home crowd.
Just over an hour before, his sister Michaela begins a third Commonwealth Games campaign against Botswana’s Keamogetse Kenosi.
A silver medallist in 2014 and 2018, the 29-year-old has her heart set on gold this time around. Former netball player Kenosi – who, like Walsh, competed at last year’s Tokyo Olympics – is unlikely to halt the Belfast woman’s charge towards the medal stages.
The winner will face either South Africa’s Phiwokuhle Mnguini or Sajeewani Muthuthanthri from Sri Lanka in Saturday evening’s semi-final.
Two rising stars of Irish boxing make their Commonwealth Games bows today too, with World champion Amy Broadhurst and European silver medallist Dylan Eagleson entering the fray.
Broadhurst, boxing at lightweight, will have her first fight since landing 66kg gold in Turkey, taking on Zambia’s Felistus Nkandu, and the Dundalk woman should have little problem progressing to a Saturday semi-final against either Botswana’s Aratwa Kasemang or Nigeria’s Cynthia Ogunsemilore.
Eighteen-year-old Eagleson, meanwhile, faces Mozambique’s tricky Armando Sigauque.
Having excelled in his maiden elite competition to claim European silver in Yerevan, victory this afternoon could set up a semi-final clash with experienced Scot Matthew McHale or Malaysia’s Muhammad Ahmad Shaharom.
Before Broadhurst in this evening's session, Holy Trinity fly Clepson dos Santos has his second bout of the competition, taking on Welshman Jake Dodd.
For one to keep an eye on tonight, big-hitting English super-heavy – the magnificently named Delicious Orie – steps between the ropes for the first time in Birmingham at 9.45pm. He is up against another giant in Nigel Paul from Trinidad and Tobago.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
54kg quarter-final: Dylan Eagleson v Armando Sigauque (Mozambique) – 12.45pm
57kg quarter-final: Michaela Walsh v Keamogetse Kenosi (Botswana) – 1.15pm
71kg quarter-final: Aidan Walsh v Harris Akbar (England) – 2.30pm
51kg quarter-final: Clepson dos Santos v Jason Dodd (Wales) – 6pm
60kg quarter-final: Amy Broadhurst v Felistus Nkandu (Zambia) – 7.30pm
