Daina on the hunt for Moore GOLD

She is the most decorated fighter on the Irish roster but such are the standards Daina Moorehouse sets herself she goes into the European Under-22 championships feeling she has something to prove.

The two time European underage gold medal winner lost in the semi finals of her last European adventure, still winning bronze but being left quietly smarting.

The Bray flyweight, a two-weight National Elite Champion, has been frustrated the pandemic prevented her from jumping back up to the top of the podium and travels to Croatia determined to add to her collection of continental golds.

“I’m very excited,” she tells Irish-boxing.com

“My last international was 2019, so I feel like there’s a lot that I’ve missed out on. We have a very strong team and I feel like all the work is done now it’s just time to get in and get the business done!

“My target is gold and I don’t want to settle for anything less.

“My last European medal was bronze, and I’m forever thankful I got on the podium at them championships, but I feel like this time I’ve something to prove,” she continues before suggesting she is ready to battle it out for top spot.

“I’m at the new weight I feel a lot stronger and I’ve learned so much in the High Performance.”

The Enniskerry BC flighter has three European medals to her name gold at Junior and Youth level as well as a bronze at Youth.

Not content with that haul across the Under 16 and 18 age groups she is keen to add more bling to her mantlepiece at Under-22 level.

“This is my fourth European championships and it’s the first at Under-22 level, I would love to win it to add another gold to the collection as I’ve worked really hard, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I feel I’m more than ready now and I just can’t wait to get over there now.”

Despite her young age, Moorehouse is an established senior operator and once she competes at a tournament she feels she missed out on, she will divert her attentions to becoming an elite senior international success.

“I was delighted, over the moon,” she says about being selected having missed the 2021 edition in Italy.

“It’s been a long time since my last Europeans so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I never got to box in U22 championships and Europeans, I missed out on them due to covid but in the future, I definitely want to try to go to bigger tournaments now that I’m Elite I would love to get all the experience I can at Elite level.”