World Class – Brilliant John Donoghue Becomes a Two Time World Champion
John Donoghue is a two time World U19 Champion.
The Olympic Mullingar boxer climbed to the top of the podium with a final win in Budva on Tuesday.
The emerging talent was the 5-0 winner in a nail-biting 70kg final, defeating Bibarys Ashirbay of Kazakhstan, via a 28:29; 28:29; 28:29; 28:29 scorecard.
The West Meath man also won World Junior gold in 2023 and is the reigning European champion at the weight. His path to the top of the podium included wins over Maksim Rybak of Belarus, Itzhak Avrutis of Israel and Armenia’s Artyom Stepanyan.
Kalib Walshe also appeared on finals day but had to settle for silver after defeat to the reigning South American champ.
The Wexford man suffered defeat in a highly technical lightweight final against the Edgardo Nicolas Peralta of Argentina,
The 5-0 decision went to Peralta on a scoreline of 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27. The Wexford CBS boxer is now a European and World silver medalist.
The results helped team Ireland finished 5th in the overall team rankings behind Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and USA, and ahead of federations including India, China, England and Brazil. Ireland finished 6th in the medals standings.
In all, Ireland will return with 6 medals from these championships as Louise Joyce adds World bronze to her benchmark tally of three European medals. Jason Donoghue, is also a World bronze medalist as is Clonmel BC’s Kaysie Joyce and Dublin Dockland’s Jason Whelan.
