MEDAL ALERT – Sensational Siofra Lawless Becomes Two Time World Medalist
Soifra Lawless is a two-time World Championship medal winner.
The World Junior Champion strode confidently onto the World Youth Championship podium in Budva today.
The Wicklow Wonder looked a class above Odinakhon Ismoilova and bossed their 63kg quarter-final from start to early finish.
Lawless dominated the opening round, handed out two standing eights in the second and with 30 seconds to go in the final session the referee called a halt to proceedings after another stinging sanding eight-worthy shot landed.
As a result of the RSC win, Lawless’s second in the tournament, the Four Kings talent steps onto the podium, moves into the final four and guarantees herself bronze at the very least.
Lawless will look to improve the colour of her medal when she contests the semin finals later in the week.
There was a brief period of figuring out her southpaw opponent for the Queen of Four Kings but once she found her range Lawless began to dominate.
A varied jab provided a platform from which to work and it wasn’t long before her backhand right was scoring, with a left hook finish added for good measure as the stanza progressed.
As a result, Lawless took the stanza 10-9 across the board much to the delight of the Irish in the venue.
The Wicklow Wonder’s superior skillset remained apparent across the first 90 seconds of the second session, as under orders ‘to keep boxing,’ Lawless picked shots from a safe distance.
One such shot a clean jab forced a standing eight and when a 1-2-1 combo rocked the blue corner boxers head back for a second time the referee stepped in again.
That prompted Lawless to hunt a stoppage and it looked like she may have secured it when one combination finished with a huge right hand.
However, to her credit the Uzbek took it and continued to try and turn the tide.
It was nothing short of sensational by Lawless in the last. Collected and composed, she picked shots aplenty and negated all her opponent’s last-ditch attempts to get back into the fight. If she wasn’t making Ismoilova fall short and punishing her with combinations and right hands, Lawless was walking her talented opponent onto solid jabs.
Indeed, it was a solid lead left that eventually secured her a medal. Another jab snapped back the next of the blue corner fighter and with 30 seconds to go and the result only going one way, the woman in the middle called a halt to proceedings and gave Lawless her second stoppage win of the tournament.
Team Ireland
60kg Kayleigh Whelan, Avona BC, Dublin
63kg Siofra Lawless, Four Kings BC, Wicklow
66kg Kyla Doyle Byrne, Whitechurch BC Dublin
57kg Jamie Graham, Clonard BC, Belfast
60kg Martin McDonagh, Avona BC, Dublin
63.5kg Ryan Jenkins, Olympic BC Mullingar
71kg Tadhg O’Donnell, Four Kings BC, Wicklow
92+kg Adam Olaniyan, Jobstown BC, Dublin
Team Manager: Anna Moore
Coach Liam Cunningham
Coach Garry Kehoe
Coach Ralph McKay