Neilstown boxer, Kenneth Egan, is among five Irish fighters who have qualified for the Olympics this summer.

Joining Egan on the flight to China is middleweight, Darren Sutherland,
and light welterweight, John Joe Joyce. While, light-flyweight, Paddy
Barnes, and bantamweight, John Joe Nevin booked their place at the
Games back in March.

Egan, Sutherland and Joyce also won gold at the qualifying tournament in Greece, topping a great month for Irish boxing.

Team captain Egan secured his place, at the Beijing games, earlier
this month in Athens, when he won his semi-final bout at the final
round of qualifiers. Speaking following his victory over Gottlieb
Weiss, his German opponent, Egan said; “It will take a while for all
this to sink in yet and I am absolutely thrilled with this win.”

Qualification for the Olympics is yet another milestone in the
Clondalkin boxer’s already successful career. In 2007, Egan was named
European Boxer of the Year by the Amateur Boxing Association. While the
26-year old has won a gold medal at the EU Championship, a bronze at
the 2006 European Amateur Championships and four national titles. But,
if the Dubliner was to capture a medal in Beijing, it would surely
surpass all the other achievements he’s already gained in his career.

John Joe Joyce also clinched his place at the Games with victory in
the Athens qualifiers. The light-welterweight, from Athy, Co. Kildare,
is the current Irish champion in his weight class. Darren Sutherland
secured his qualification with a victory over Moldovan Victor
Cotiujanschii. The middleweight, who trains in St. Saviour’s club in
Santry North Dublin, impressively dispatched his rival after just three
rounds.

The first boxer to qualify for this summer’s Games was Paddy
Barnes. The Belfast light flyweight guaranteed his place in Beijing as
he reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships last year in
Chicago. Meanwhile Cavan bantamweight, John Joe Nevin, earned his place
at the Games when he defeated his Ukrainian opponent, Maksym Tretyak,
in Italy back in March.

The five man team is the strongest boxing team Ireland has sent to
the Olympics since the Barcelona Games in 1992. Ireland won two medals
back then; the first when Wayne McCullough earned a silver medal in the
bantamweight division. The Belfast fighter would go on to have a
successful professional career, winning the WBC World Title, along with
27 fights at various different weight classes. While Michael Carruth
remains the only Irishman to win a gold medal in a boxing event.

The Dublin welterweight defeated Cuban Juan Hernandez Sierra at the
Barcelona Games to claim an historic victory. Ireland hasn’t won a
medal in a boxing event at the Games since Carruth and McCullough
victories back in 1992. And almost every Olympic medal Ireland has won
since, with the exception of Sonia O’Sullivan’s silver medal in
Sydney 2000, has been blighted by controversy. Michelle de Bruin’s
three gold medals and one bronze at Atlanta 1996 are officially still
credited as an Irish victory, but allegations of doping have followed
the swimmer ever since.

While four years ago, in Athens, Cian O’Connor’s gold medal, in
the show jumping event, looked to have earned Ireland their only medal
at the Games. However, O’Connor was later stripped of the medal as
his horse, Waterford Crystal, tested positive for a banned substance.

Hopefully Ireland’s Olympics won’t again be tarnished by
controversy, as it seems the five boxers have a real chance of success
this summer.

- Robert Redmond