Ireland beaten by USA in opening fixture of East Coast tour
Ireland fell to an 8-4 defeat in the opening fixture of their three-fight series with the United States.
The travelling Irish team took on take on a strong home side at the Royale Entertainment Complex and were defeated across 12 outs.
Kirill Afanasev won a war at heavyweight, teenage talents Michael Nevin and Kieran Molloy impressed, and Kelly Harrington was imperious for the away side’s four wins.
However there were losses for Dean Gardiner, Caoimhin Agyarko Hynes, Brett McGinty, Wayne Kelly, George Bates, Frankie Cleary, Gráinne Walsh, and Lauren Hogan.
Kelly was quite unlucky against Tiger Johnson, as was Agyarko Hynes versus Khalil Coe. Gráinne Walsh was in a thrilling slugfest with Oshae Jones, being edged out on a split and setting up their next meeting to be unmissable.
While he was beaten on the night, Brett McGinty impressed massively with a relentless performance against Troy Isley, pushing the World bronze medalist every step of the way.
Ireland and the U.S. will reconvene on Thursday [May 19th] night in Springfield, Massachusetts.
91+kg: Richard Torrez (Tulare, California) beat Dean Gardiner (Clonmel) UD
91kg: Kirill Afanasev (Smithfield) beat Adrian Tillman (Colorado Springs, Colorado) SD
81kg: Khalil Coe (Jersey City, New Jersey) beat Caoimhin Agyarko Hynes (Holy Trinity) UD
75kg: Michael Nevin (Portlaoise) beat Nikita Ababiy (Brooklyn, New York) SD
75kg: Troy Isley (Alexandria, Virginia) beat Brett McGinty (Oakleaf) UD
69kg: Kieran Molloy (Oughterard) beat Quinton Randall (Katy, Texas) SD
64kg: Tiger Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio) beat Wayne Kelly (Portlaoise) SD
60kg: Keshawn Davis (Norfolk, Virginia) beat George Bates (St Mary’s) UD
60kg: Marc Castro (Fresno, California) beat Frankie Cleary (Ballina) UD
69kg: Oshae Jones (Toledo, Ohio) beat Gráinne Walsh (Sparticus) SD
60kg: Kelly Harrington (St Mary’s) beat Stacia Suttles (Bronx, New York) UD
51kg: Ginny Fuchs (Kemah, Texas) beat Lauren Hogan (St Brigid’s) RSC2
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
