On This Day: June 12th
2010: Belfast’s Paddy Barnes defeated Azeri Elvin Mamishzade (4:1) to claim gold at the European Championships in Moscow. It was Ireland’s first gold in the tournament in 19 years and the Holy Family fighter’s first international gold. En-route to the final Barnes defeated Hungarian Istvan Lakatos (12:4), England’s Tommy Stubbs (8:1), and Spaniard Kelvin de la Nieve (6:3).
1942: Mullingar’s Chris Cole defeated Tipp giant Jim Cully in two rounds to claim the Irish heavyweight title at Dalymount Park. The 7’2″ Cully, the tallest Irish boxer in history outweighed Cole by a massive 65lbs but was floored seven times in the early loss/
2003: A great day at the inaugural EU Championships in Strasbourg saw Ireland secure three bronze medals. Sligo heavyweight Alan Reynolds knocked out Turk Mustafa Genc in the second round, Cavan lightweight Andy Murray outpointed England’s Michael Grant (35:21), and Belfast bantamweight Brian Gillen beat Finland’s Jyri Naskali (25:12). In the semis Gillen and Reynolds lost to eventual gold medalists Ali Hallab of France (14:33) and Lithuania’s Vitalijus Subacius (22:37) respectively, while Murray was defeated by Italian future World title challenger Devis Boschiero (19:23).
2009: A 22 year old from Tiger’s Bay called Carl Frampton made his professional debut at the Olympia in Liverpool. His opponent that night was Hungarian southpaw Sandor Szinavel who he floored in the opening round and twice more in the second to force the stoppage.
