Georgia McGovern eyes European Champion ahead of International Return

If reigning Irish youth minimumweight champion Georgia McGovern was to draw European Youth gold medal winner Filiz Isik in the World Championships later this year she would be overjoyed.

Not because the continental bronze medallist harbours a grudge and wants revenge over the Turk who knocked her out of the Europeans in April, but rather she is confident she has the beating of her fellow elite underage prospect.

The Tallaght native claims she has learnt from the defeat and knows what she needs to put right to get past Isik, who would be fancied to medal in November World Youth championships considering her status as the best minimumweight in Europe.

McGovern, 17, makes the point in a bid to explain the confidence she gained from medaling for her country on the international stage.

“It definitely gives you more confidence,” she tells Irish-boxing.com.

“Even at the European I lost to the gold medalist and I watched the fight back, I only lost by little things, things I should have been doing that I wasn’t doing. I definitely think I have a good chance of going over to the Worlds. If I come up against that girl in the world now I’d be delighted because I’d know exactly what to do because she is beatable because she is not out of this world.”

Reflecting further on her European experience, McGovern, who was one of eight Irish medalists at the tournament in Sofia, added: “The experience was so surreal you are over there doing what you love with loads of people love the same thing around you. I had three fights and I won bronze. I was happy with the bronze, particularly as I was one of the younger girls, but I thought I could have done better, but I did what I could on the day. I was happy with the performance and there is nothing you can do after that.”

McGovern has not yet been officially picked to represent Ireland at the World Youth Championships set for Spain this November but is targeting selection and is hopeful her European success and another Irish title win will catch the IABA’s eye.

“I’ll be aiming for the World Championships, especially now that I won there [Irish Youths] hopefully I get taken down to the High Performance training, and then I’ll hopefully be picked at 48kg and try to go over and medal again.”

The teen prospect picked up her second Irish title of the season via walkover, something she points out isn’t ideal.

“It’s just a bit disappointing because I’m putting in all the hard work to get prepared. I’m on my weight and ready to go and then I come down and nobody weighs in or enters and my weight. It’s just disappointing because of all the hard work you put in.

“I knew just over a week ago that I had a walkover. Girls don’t really come down to the weight. I had a girl I fought in the Irish final and she didn’t enter this time.”