BOXING:THERE WAS no silver medal yesterday at the World Championships in Milan but Irish boxing is encouraged about the future for bantamweight bronze medal winner John Joe Nevin.
The 20-year-old lost out 5-4 to Russian Eduard Abzalimov in a contest that slow burned until a final round that ended 4-4.
The Irishman was tagged with a left in that first round as the Russian scored first and as Nevin danced and feinted around the ring looking for openings Abzalimov couldn’t touch him. However, neither could Nevin make a score until the third round, when the pressure to build points became more serious.
The second three minutes of the contest remained entirely scoreless, although Nevin appeared to land several blows, none of which registered with the judges – three out of the five-man judging panel must press a button within one second of each other for a punch to register on the score board.
A change of tactics from the Irish corner in the final round saw Nevin push forward more aggressively. Under pressure to score he came on to Abzalimov only to concede a point each time he scored himself.
It was 2-2 with 90 seconds remaining but the Russian went 3-2 up with a minute left on the clock. Abzalimov then went 4-2 as Nevin hungrily advanced and with 35 seconds left the Irish fighter narrowed it to 4-3.
However, the closing seconds favoured the canny Russian as Nevin desperately pushed for the scores that would have made him the first Irish boxer to make an amateur World Championship final.
“I gave it everything because I was determined to make history,” said Nevin. “I wanted to be the first Irish boxer to win a silver medal. It was a very, very tight fight. I got to within a point but it just wasn’t enough. This is only my second year at senior level and I am happy now to be going home with a championship medal.”
Head coach Billy Walsh was philosophical after a championship that began with the sending home of Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes and finished with disappointment for Ken Egan but Nevin lifting the team into the medal positions.
“This was the target for the year. We really wanted to come away from the championships with a medal. In a way this is job done,” said Walsh.
“It is always nerve-racking when John Joe is fighting because he is not going to win by a huge margin. But he is a huge talent and this is his level. Remember, he’ll be 22-years-old for Korea (next World Championships), 23-years-old for London (Olympics) and he’ll be coming into his prime.”
Nevin is young enough to aim for London in 2012 and for the following Olympics in 2016, when he will be the same age as Egan is now. The bronze medal also represents credible progress and nothing less than an exciting future for the bantamweight.
