IRISH heavyweight Cathal O'Grady was unsuccessful in his bid to win an Olympic place at the European Championships in Vejle, Denmark, yesterday. O'Grady was stopped in his tracks by Belarus opponent Sergei Dychkov. Forced to take three counts, the referee stopped the bout in the second round.
Light welterweight Francis Barrett desperately hopes to avoid the same fate in his Olympics qualification box off against Austria's Adrian Suteu this morning as he bids to join Brian McGee and Damaen Kelly at the Atlanta Games.
Kelly has bigger thoughts in mind. Although it would be folly to underestimate Albert Kapkiav of Russia in today's semi final, the Holy Trinity boxer fears no one. Indeed, he expects to take the ultimate prize as a confidence booster before Atlanta.
Russia's world amateur bantamweight champion Raimkul Malakhbetov will defend his title against Hungary's Istvan Kovacs after both men won their semi finals yesterday.
Malakhbetov beat Sweden's John Larbi 4-1, while former world and European amateur champion Kovacs enjoyed a 6-1 success against Bulgaria's Alexander Hristov.
Germany's Sven Ottke cruised to a 6-0 win over Frenchman Jean Paul Mendy in the middleweight class. He faces Hungary's Zsolt Erdei, who narrowly defeated Russia's Alexander Lebziak 6-5.
