Clancy’s Silver at Europeans
THERE was more European medals for young Sligo athletes recently when local boxer Dean Clancy won Silver.
The Sligo teenager was competing at the European Junior Championships which were held in Bulgaria.
He put in a fantastic tournament overall, winning four out of five fights during the European Championships, where he was fighting some of the crop in boxing circles.
The Sligo BC flyweight (Ballinacarrow BC) lost on a 4-1 split decision to Boris Kariban in the final on Monday evening.
The Russian southpaw went down under a sweet left in the third but it was ruled a slip. However, the punch clearly contributed to his visit to the canvas.
The first round of an up tempo contest was fairly even, although Kariban’s aggression and accuracy probably edged the opening frame, while Clancy found the target with excellent combinations in the second; Kariban replying in kind in a stanza which could have gone either way.
Clancy had an excellent third, culminating in the left hook that dropped his opponent.
The Sligo man won four out of five fights in seven days in Albena.
It was a brilliant performance from the young athlete and a magnificent all round tournament for the Sligo prospect.
Ireland, courtesy of Clancy and Cork’s Callum Walsh, had the highest western European representation in the finals.
Billy McClean and Dmitri Dimitruc were working Ireland’s corner in Albena.
There was scenes of celebration on Tuesday when the Irish contingent arrived back in Dublin airport with their medals on hand.
Walsh from the Riverstown BC in Cork, won Gold in the 60kg category. Ireland finished in 4th spot in the medals table in Albena and the 13-strong squad finished in 4th place in the rankings table.
Irish boxing, male and female, has claimed 25 medals – five of which are gold – at all levels of World and European competition since late June this summer.
All Irish squads over the last 94 days of World and European competition have finished in top ten positions in their respective medals tables in what has been a brilliant season to date.