On This Day: June 24th
2011: Joe Ward and Ray Moylette claimed gold at the European Championships in Ankara, Turkey.
Ward, just 17 at the time, stormed into the final by beating Estonian Ainar Karlson (10:8), Italian Simone Fiori (15:13), and Hungarian Imre Szello (18:8). In the final he defeated Russian star Nikita Ivanov (20:12). A momentous win for the Moate teenager who, under new updated age regulations, wouldn’t even have been allowed enter the tournament.
Moylette’s route to the final saw him stop Israeli Subhi Taha Amara, and narrowly Serbian Ljubomir Marjanovic (17:16), Maxim Ignatiev (14:13), and Azeri Gaybatulla Hajialiyev (18:16). In the final the Mayo boxer scored an 18:10 win over Englishman Tom Stalker.
1896: In the first of his two bouts with the Hall of Famer, Dundalk’s Tom Sharkey drew a four round decision with James J Corbett at the Mechanic’s Pavilion, San Francisco. The bout was ended prematurely due to police interference and ruled a draw after four rounds. Corbett had started the better but was out of shape and the physical strength and grappling of Sharkey was causing him problems. The ending of the the bout is up for debate. Some sources claim that the police interference came following Sharkey throwing Corbett and the referee to the ground, while others say the interference was requested by Corbett fans who saw that their man was in trouble and looking likely to lose.
2015: At the inaugural European Games in Baku, Brendan Irvine guaranteed himself a silver medal with a come-from-behind unanimous win over Ukranian Dmytro Zamotayev. The Wee Rooster had previously defeated Bulgarian Tinko Banabakov and shocked home favourite Salman Alizade in the quarter finals. The Belfast teenager would be defeated in the final by Russian Bator Sagaluyev.
2004: Andy Lee defeated Pole Robert Gniot (18:6) at the EU Championships in Madrid to guarantee a silver medal. En-route to the semis the Limerick man had outpointed Turk Serdar Ustuner (26:16) and German Robert Woge (RSCO). The future WBO champion was beaten 38:24 in the final by Romanian Marian Simion.
