57kgs 4-8 Loss
Michael Roberts v Nikolai Zaitsev Estonia
1st round was very even with both boxers trying to get their range.The Estonian put Michael under pressure, Michael could not raise his performance to match. 3r round Michael had nothing left. Michael had to lose 900gms on the morning of the fight which had a detrimental effect on his performance.
60kgs 3-6 Loss
Josh Taylor v Insallah Alyshov Russia
Josh was under pressure from the bell against a very classy opponent, who took control of the centre of the ring putting Josh on the back foot who however managed to cope with it. The contest could have gone either way had it not been for the referee giving Josh a public warning for a shoulder push which was unwarranted. Josh was very unlucky.
74kgs 0-7 Loss
Sean Finney v Eamonn OKane Ireland
Sean had been through a lot in the preceding 24hours to get to the championships after discovering his passport was out of date. The score was 0-0 after 1st round, from the start of the 2nd round the Irish boxer took control and just kept pushing Sean all around the ring. OKane is a very strong aggressive boxer who kept coming forward and it ended very messily with Sean wrestling his opponent to the floor twice.
54kgs 4-12
Joe Ham v Zafar Parpier Russia
The 1st round was very even as both boxers held the centre of the ring and both had tight defences, however the result showed Joe was 8-2 down which was not a true account of the bout. In the 2nd round Joe had to change his style and was aggressive and strong right through to the end of the fight. He connected with a left hook in the 3rd round and stunned his opponent. Joe was very unlucky and the scoring did not mirror Joes performance.
64kgs 11-8 Win
Darren McGinn v Alexander Jacobson Norway
Darren boxed very clever behind his jab and back hand and had good footwork. He put his opponent down for a count in the 1st round and was in control in the first two rounds, however his opponent came back very strong in the last round and it got a bit untidy. A great win for Darren.
69kgs 4-4 Loss on countback
Aston Brown v Uktamjon Rahmonov Uzb
This is the best I have seen Aston working behind his long reach, making openings for his punches. He was very sharp and everything he did was first class. Scotland was informed that his opponent was a former world champion and Aston made him look very ordinary. I think the judging was wrong and this should never have been decided by a countback.
81kgs 6-7 Loss
Callum Johnson v Thomas McCarthy Ireland
Callum took centre of the ring but waited a fraction too long to throw his punches. McCarthy is a big strong guy but lazy. The referee let him lie on Callum holding without intervention. I thought Callum won the fight. Callum said he was not very happy with his own performance but I thought he was still in control of the bout.
51kgs 3-8 Loss
Ian Butcher v Declan Geraghty Ireland
Ian could not get close to this very tall rangy boxer. Ian never got in distance and was always short with his punches. He told us before the fight that he had still had a problem with his right arm which obviously hindered him. Ian would benefit from competing at 48-49kgs, although we were told this weight did not exist at this competition but it was included anyway.
64kgs 2-7 Loss Semi-Final
Darren McGinn v Vincenzo Magniacapre Italy
Darren boxed well behind his left jab for the 1st round, keeping the score to 2-2. As the bout progressed the fast hands and attacking nature of the Italian began to tell and he took control of the bout. The 3rd round was very one sided with Darren getting a public warning for holding . It was a great trip for Darren and the experience will be invaluable.
71kgs Stopped 2nd Round
Ross Henderson v Francesco Rossanao Italy
1st round was very untidy with both boxers missing the target. In the 2nd round Ross caught the Italian with a good shot which staggered his opponent but then he stood off him and gave him time to recover. The Italian started to come back into the bout and caught Ross with a few heavy shots, one of the shots caught Ross on the nose leading to a very bad bleed. Referee had no choice but to stop the fight. In the warm up for the fight Rosss pad work, shadow boxing etc and his attitude is 1st class but he cannot seem to take it into contest at the moment.
Overall it was a very hard competition and hopefully all the boys will have learned from there experiences. The top class European boxers can all work hard for the full nine minutes non stop and I think this is one of the areas that we can improve on. Mark Geraghty and I had a great time and worked well together.
Tony Kerr
