EUROPEAN U17 CHAMPIONSHIPS – Fab Five Add to Quarter Final Tally
A Fab Five on Tuesday made sure eight Team Ireland boxers have so far won through to the medal stages of the European U17 Championships.
Pat Stokes, Christy Joyce, Ronan Charles, Paddy Nevin and Thomas O’Reilly added to Ireland’s quarter-final tally with wins in Budva.
Pat Stokes is a quarter-finalist, having been the 5-0 winner over Czechia’s Vojtech Halinar in their 50kg Last 16 contest. Judges scored the bout: 27:30; 27:30; 27:30; 27:30; 25:30. He is back in action, and boxing for a medal, in Thursday’s Afternoon Session.
Lightweight Christy Joyce has also won through to the medal stages of the championships. He was the 4-1 winner over Kostiantyn Slipchuk of Ukraine a testy Last 16 contest in which points were deducted from both boxers. Judges scored the bout: 29:26; 27:28; 27:28; 27:28; 27:28. Joyce is back in action in Thursday’s Afternoon Session.
Ronan Charles is through to the quarter-finals in style, recording a 1st round stoppage win on his European U17 Championship debut. He boxed his 46kg Last 16 contest against Malta’s Deyan Attard and is now through to the medal stages.
Paddy Nevin is also one win away from a medal. Nevin dominated the ring in his Last 16 contest against Armenia’s Bagrat Ghazaryan, forcing a count in the first round and third rounds, and winning by RSC3. He boxes for a medal in Thursday’s Evening Session.
Thomas O’Reilly was the fifht through to the last eight as he defeated Belarusian Aliaksandr Korda in their 75kg Last 16 contest. Judges scored the bout 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:26.
Joining them in the hunt for medals are: Macie Duffy O’Connor, Saoirse Donnelly and Maicey Field, while Martin Donovan, Rylee Finn, Daisy Kieran and Martin Nevin are poised to box their Last 16 bouts.
Not to be for Team Co-Captain, Sean Kelly, on the narrowest of margins. The 52kg 2025 European champ contested his European U17 Championship Last 16 bout at 54kg against Azerbaijan’s Gardash Rahimov – the tight, testy contest resulted in a 3-2 split win for Rahimov.
John Delaney has also exited the U17 Championships. The 63kg boxer contested his Last 16 bout against Dimitrios Pavlou of Greece, and the 5-0 decision went to the Greek boxer, scored: 28:29; 27:30; 28:29; 28:29;28:29. John can be proud of this European Championships journey, which has included a win over Dominik Sira of Slovakia.
