Barrett wins a rough rematch

One of the most controversial episodes in Irish amateur boxing in recent years was concluded convincingly last night in the National Stadium when Sean Barrett from the Rylane Club in Cork beat Mark Wickham from Enniscorthy in the delayed national senior light welterweight semi-final.

Three weeks ago a computer failure forced the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) to order a rematch after Wickham had been given a one-point decision over Barrett before it was discovered that the computer scoring system had been out of operation for a minute during the first half of the fight.

Neither side was totally happy about the outcome and legal opinion was eventually sought by all concerned when eventually the

IABS was told that according to their own rules the result was invalid.

It was decided to stage the rematch as an addendum to last night's international bout between Ireland and the United States, but the fight became the centrepiece of the night when only seven Americans turned up.

It was clear from the start of the bout that there was no love lost between the two as they slugged it out in the middle of the ring. It was a wise move by the IASA to appoint Ireland's most experienced referee Jackie Poucher as it turned out to be a war of attrition. Neither boxer was prepared to back away and the referee had his hands full in keeping some kind of order as Barrett was adjudged to have won the first round 2-0.

The tough exchanges continued in the second round and it became clear that Wickham, the reigning champion at light welter, was under severe pressure and this was confirmed by a score of 6-0 in Barrett's favour at the end of the round.

In the third round Barrett swarmed forward constantly as Wickham tried to recover lost ground but he failed to do so and was trailing 1-9 going into the last round of the contest and finally lost on a score of 13-1.

The final now in the light welter division will be between Francie Barrett of the Olympic Club in Galway and Sean Barrett from Rylane in Cork and this will be decided on the night of the international match against Sweden on April 30th.

In the international bantamweight match which followed, further controversy arose when Ireland's Damian McKenna was adjudged to have drawn 6-6 with Gerald Tucker from the US at the end of the four two-minute rounds.

However, on the computer system McKenna was given the verdict on a countback of 26-25.

In the light middle division, Frank O'Brien from Dublin came in as a late replacement for Michael Roche but did not last very long as the American Jermaine Taylor stopped him in the first round.

To some extent the surprise of the night was the defeat at middle weight of the Irish champion Alan Reynolds from Sligo on the score of 11-4. Orlando Anderson, who is the Armed Forces champion of the United States and the allArmy champion for the same year, was much too strong for the young and inexperienced Sligoman.

A request to reduce the jail sentence of former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson for assault has been rejected by a Maryland judge.

Stephen P Johnson, a district court judge for Montgomery County, denied a bid by Tyson's lawyers that would have reduced the sentence to eight months and made the fighter instantly eligible for home detention.

Tyson, who has served 50 days in jail, received a one-year sentence after pleading no contest to attacking two elderly motorists last August when their car hit a vehicle driven by Tyson's wife Monica.

"The court feels the original sentence is fair and appropriate," Johnson said.

The judge acknowledged that Tyson had made progress while behind bars, studying for a high school diploma and working with younger inmates as a leader in his living area, but decided it was not enough for an early release.