Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
O’neill may quit after harsh loss
FURIOUS Darren O’neill will decide on his future as an Elite boxer in the coming weeks. The London 2012 Olympian controversially bowed out of the European Championships on a split decision to Ukrainian heavyweight Ramazazaqn Musilimov in Kharkiv, Ukraine yesterday. Joe Ward and Kurt Walker both won in Kharkiv to join Sean Mccomb and Brendan Irvine, who posted victories on Monday, in today’s quarter finals, but O’neill and Emmet Brennan are out. European light-heavy champion Ward dropped Slovak Matus Strnisko with a head/body combo in the first and cruised into the last-eight on a unanimous decision. The Moate BC southpaw face Scotland’s Sean Lazzerini today. The top 8 boxers in each weight in Kharkiv qualify for the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany in August/september. Ireland, courtesy of Irvine, Walker, Mccomb and Ward, will be represented at fly, bantam, light-welter and light-heavy in Hamburg. O’neill, 31, who has indicated this will be his last Europeans, lost a close battle on a 4-1 split to Musilimov. He said: “I felt I won the first and the third, the second was close, but absolutely outraged. Apparently, three or four judges gave him the last round and he was out on his feet. I just don’t know what I can do anymore. “I’m just so pi**ed off at the minute. I’m going to take a few weeks off, I don’t know. That’s another major medal taken away from me and that’s more funding taken away from me.”