JOE EDGES INTO FINAL

JOE WARD is ready for an AIBA World Championship final rematch with reigning champion Julio La Cruz of Cuba after a tense semi-final victory in Hamburg last night.

European lightheavyweight champion Ward overcame the bullish Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan in their last-four clash, with the Moate man claiming a 3-2 splitdecision victory.

While Ward had the better of the first round, boxing at range in the battle of the southpaws, a determined Melikuziev put it up to the Irishman in the second and third rounds.

However, Pilipino and US judges gave Ward all three rounds (30-27) with a Hungarian judge awarding the 23-year-old a 29-28 call. That overruled their Russian (28-29) and Indian (27-30) colleagues at ringside to send the

Westmeath native into a second world final on the bounce.

“It’s always great to win. It’s a special feeling to be back in another world final,” said Ward. “I performed really well in there, the guy was very good.

“He’d a very good pedigree – he got to an Olympic final and a world final at middleweight – so I knew it was always going to be difficult, but I deserved to win and I boxed really well.”

Ward’s victory sets up a repeat of the

2015 81kg final in Doha when he lost a 3-0 unanimous decision – under an older scoring system – to classy Cuban La Cruz.

WARDED OFF Melikuziev is tagged by Joe Ward