Ireland guaranteed four medals after fine showing in European Championships

Ireland are guaranteed four medals at the European Championships in Minsk after John Joe Nevin, Paddy Barnes, Jason Quigley and Michael Conlan all won their quarter-final bouts in Minsk today.

Olympic silver medal winner Nevin scored a unanimous victory over Hungary’s Krisztian Nagy.

The Irish bantamweight outclassed his opponent over the three rounds, with the scores of 30-24, 30-27 and 30-25 returned by the three judges.

He will now meet Russia’s Nikitin Vladimir, who earned a split decision over Georgia’s Giorgi Gogatishvili today, in the semi-finals on Friday.

The Cavan BC boxer joins Katie Taylor in earning a medal in the Olympics, World, European and European Union Championships.

Belfast light-flyweight Barnes beat Hungary’s Istvan Ungvari on a split decision in their 49kg quarter-final, where one of the judges scored all three rounds to Ungarvi.

Barnes, the 2010 European champion, will now meet Azerbaijan’s Salman Alizida, the 2011 European champion, in the last four on Friday.

Middleweight Quigley from the Finn Valley Boxing Club in Donegal claimed a unanimous verdict over Germany's Stefan Haertel to complete a great start to the day for the Irish squad.

“I can’t describe it at the minute, it’s the best achievement I have to date,” said Quigley. “I started from a young age, me and my father training in the kitchen, lived in a flat for a lot of our years. To have worked from there to where I am today, it’s absolutely brilliant, and I owe all this back to my family.

“It’s about who wants it most, especially with this computer scoring, and I know when I get in that ring nobody wants it more than me. That’s the confidence I have and I think that’s what won me the fight today.”

The run ended when Belfast heavyweight Tommy McCarthy met his match in number one seed Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan.

McCarthy, of the Oliver Plunkett club, lost 29-28 on each of the three judges’ cards, although he battled well to win the third round.

”I’m happy with my performance, I’m not happy with the result but I’m happy with the performance,” he said. “I’m top eight in Europe now, probably top 10 in the world now. I showed I belonged here at the highest level.”

In the evening session, Conlan sensationally stopped local boxer Siarhei Loban in the flyweight quarter-finals, with the referee stopping the bout in the second round with the Belfast fighter in complete control.