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How Irish boxers have fared against Germany

Northern Ireland play their final Group C match at Euro 2016 tonight against Germany in Paris.

While The Green And White Army don’t necessarily need a result over the reigning World champions to qualify for the last 16, progression would be unlikely should they lose.

With tonight’s high-stakes match in mind we took a look back at some of the Ireland-Germany boxing clashes, and the results haven’t been great.

Perhaps most notably in recent years was the fate of Matthew Macklin, who lost a dubious split decision to WBA middleweight champ Felix Sturm in Cologne in 2011.

There was also a close loss for Belfast light welterweight Eamonn Magee in a European title fight with champion Oktay Urkal. In a barn-burner of a fight, ‘The Terminator’ had his man down in the tenth round but would lose on the cards.

Dublin’s Michael Carruth avenged a previous German defeat en-route to gold at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The Dublin welterweight outpointed Andreas Otto to guarantee bronze.

Belfast bantamweight Freddie Gilroy missed out on a silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics after losing in his semi-final to eventual gold medalist Wolfgang Behrendt. Most thought Gilroy had shaded the bout, with the judges being split, leaving the decision to the Russian referee who awarded the win to the East German.

At the same Games Drogheda’s Socks Byrne lost in his semi final to West Germany’s Harry Kurschat in the lightweight division.

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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