GOLD – Aoife O’Rourke is a World Champion
Aoife O’Rourke is World Champion.
The Roscommon native won World Boxing Championship gold with victory in Liverpool on Sunday to join a distinguished list of Irish boxers that includes her sister Lisa.
The Castlerea talents stepped onto the top of the podium following a highly physical final against Turkey’s Busra Isildar.
Judges scored the bout 28:29, 27: 30, 27:30, 27: 30, 28: 29.
The medal is the doule Olympian’s second World medal this year – she claimed silver at the IBA Women’s Worlds in March.
The four ime European medal winner fought her way to the final with victories over Czech Republic’s Monika Langerova, fellow Olympian, Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad and 2023 Word Champ China’s Chengyu Wang.
Speaking to World Boxing after her famous win, she said “It’s incredible, it hasn’t even sunk in yet. The whole buzz and the atmosphere here is just…I’m overwhelmed with excitement, enjoyment, everything. It’s an amazing feeling. Long may it last!
O’Rourke is among one of the few boxers to have won World gold and silver in the same year. She and her sister, Lisa, a World champ in 2022, are now among a select group of sibling World champions. Both are members of Castlerea BC. Other Irish gold medal winners at the level include Michael Conlan, Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurt and Lisa O’Rourke.
Team Ireland’s Patsy Joyce and Grainne Walsh also claimed medals in Liverpool, both winning Bronze
The 19 year old Westmeath man, contesting at 55kg, has had an incredible World Boxing Championships journey, with three wins. The first, over Jaeyong Shin of Korea, the second over Cuban-born Bulgarian Olympian and World and European medalist, Javier Ibanez Diaz, and the third over Uzbekistan’s Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov – an Asian champion and World Boxing Cup medalist. The latter two of Joyce’s opponents are more than a decade his senior. He lost his semi-final, against Rafael Serrano Lozano, a Paris Olympian, in a hair’s breadth-close bout.
Offaly’s Grainne Walsh carved her path to the semi-finals with a resounding Last 32 stage win over Jessica Triebelova of Slovakia, where she was dominant, coming away with a 5-0 win. She boxed a masterful contest at the Last 16 stage against Mariana Soto Torres of Spain, and a second unanimous decision. The Offaly woman claimed her bronze medal by defeating the Paris Olympics silver medalist China’s Yang Liu 3-2. She contested her semi-final on Friday against Kazakhstan’s Aida Abikeyeva. This was a high-tempo, close quarters bout and the 5-0 decision went to Abikeyeva. Judges scored the bout: 28:29, 28:29, 28:29, 28:29, 27: 30.
These championships are the first since 2015 in which Ireland has won 3 world medals at a single tournament. Patsy Joyce is also the first male boxer to medal at world level since his cousin, Rio Olympian Joe Ward, won silver in Hamburg in 2017.
High Performance Director and Team Ireland World Boxing Championships Team Manager Jon Mackey says “World Gold – what a title to add to Aoife’s lengthy catalogue of achievements. Double Olympian. Four-time continental champ. World silver medalist and now World champ. She is a class above. She’s had four massive battles and has showed her mettle, her technical skill and her physicality in each of them. She’s done herself, Team Ireland, and her family proud. Aoife’s work ethic is remarkable, and she’s shown here how that dedication has paid off. I’m delighted, too, she was able to win World gold in Liverpool, with her family and friends in the arena. I know that meant so much to her.
Patsy has had been on an incredible journey in this tournament. He’s only 19 and this is his first adult Elite competition. To take down three veteran campaigners – Olympians, world and European medalists – is astounding. He has an incredible career ahead of him. Our task now is to continue to support, guide and develop him. And Grainne? What can I say. I think everyone has had a glimpse of her talent, her drive and her humility over the last 10 days. She’s a superb talent and, as she has said herself, she’s announced herself on the World stage, and this is where she belongs.
“It’s 10 years since Team Ireland brought home three medals from a World Championships – 2015, 10 years ago in Doha when Michael Conlan won the gold. It’s 8 years since we won a Men’s World medal, and that went to Patsy’s cousin, Rio Olympian Joe Ward. We finished joint 5th in the medal table out of 66 federations, equaling Cuba and ahead of powerhouses like Ukraine, the USA and Azerbaijan. That’s where we need to be – we’ve laid down a marker among the traditionally dominant nations, but we can surpass that.
“While there are a lot of positives to take from this tournament which bode well for 2026 and further in to our LA cycle, we still have some work to do. Not one of our boxers looked out of place in the ring, but we need to invest more time and resources in to competition. We’ve had an unusual year, with a low level of competitive action. That’s partly down to our joining of World Boxing in Quarter Two. WB’s calendar for 2026 is out in the next couple of weeks. That will allow us to plan to compete at as many World Boxing Cups as possible and to create individualized training and competition plans for each boxer. The training at the high-performance unit is outstanding, its world class, but you can never simulate real world competition environments without actually being at them”
High Performance Head Coach, Zauri Antia, says “Aoife boxed beautifully; she controlled the space throughout and boxed at distance. She kept the pressure on her opponent in every round. She is superb athlete. I am proud of her and for her. My congratulations to Aoife, and her family and her club, Castlerea BC. There has been excellent learning and development in this tournament for the entire team. It’s an honour and a privilege to represent your country, and I want to congratulate all Team Ireland boxers in this championship, and their clubs and families. The support of clubs and families is invaluable”
Medal Standings
Ireland will finish the tournament in a group of nations fifth on the medals table. Uzbekistan is top, with 11 medals, followed by Kazakhstan with 10. China and England both have 5 medals – Brazil and India have four. Cuba, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Poland and Turkey all have 3.
In all, 66 nations and 540 boxers are contesting this tournament, the first in which men and women jointly vie for World titles. 35 nations have not secured medals.
Team Ireland
51kg Daina Moorehouse, of Enniskerry BC, Wicklow. Daina is from Bray, Co. Wicklow.
54kg Jenny Lehane of DCU Boxing Club, Dublin. Jenny is from Ashbourne, Co. Meath
57kg Michaela Walsh of Holy Family Golden Gloves BC Belfast.
60kg Zara Breslin of Tramore BC, Waterford.
65kg Grainne Walsh of St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin. Grainne is from Tullamore, Co. Offaly
70kg Lisa O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon
75kg Aoife O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon. Team Co-Captain
50kg Louis Rooney of Star BC, Belfast
55kg Patsy Joyce of Olympic BC, Mullingar Co. Westmeath
60kg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, Co. Galway. Team Co-Captain
65kg Dean Clancy of Sean McDermott BC, Co. Leitrim. Dean is from Co. Sligo
70kg Matthew McCole of Illies Golden Glove BC Co. Donegal
75kg Gavin Rafferty of Dublin Docklands Boxing Club
80kg Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal BC, Co. Waterford
85kg Brian Kennedy of St. Brigid’s BC Edenderry Co. Offaly
90kg Jack Marley of Monkstown BC, Dublin
90+kg Martin McDonagh of Galway BC
Support Staff
Team Manager: Jon Mackey, National Performance Director
Head Coach: Zauri Antia
Coaches: Damain Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney
Doctor: Jim Clover
Lead Physio: Rob Tuomey
Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
Logistics Support: Sean Crowley, High Performance Manager
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