|
McCarthy leads strong Irish contingent to Youth WCHs | 08.10.2008 | Irish coach Jim Moore believes that some of the stars of the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be on display at the eagerly anticipated AIBA World Youth Championships which glove off in Guadalajara, Mexico on October 25.
And Moore, whose son James won a bronze medal at welterweight at the AIBA World Championships in Belfast in 2001, reckons that one of those stars will be Irish light heavyweight Thomas McCarthy, from the Oliver Plunkett club in Belfast.
McCarthy added to his growing reputation - and his trophy cabinet - after winning an Ulster senior title this year and could be the man to challenge Irish senior captain Ken Egan's dominance of the 81Kg category on the Emerald Isle.
Egan, from the Neilstown club in Dublin, claimed silver at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing and has been Irish senior champion for the last eight years in a row.
But McCarthy's skilful but hard punching orthodox style could be the formula to challenge the Irish captain, and Moore, who has been putting the Irish youth squad through their paces at the National Stadium in Dublin, has described the 18 year old as a unique talent.
"Tommy has been on the Irish Amateur Boxing Associations High Performance team for four years now and he is developing into a top class athlete," Moore said.
"He has won numerous medals at European, Cadet, Junior and Youth level and is moving in the right direction all the time. At this point I would say that he is probably our best chance of a medal in Mexico as he is in superb condition.
"He is a very stylish boxer but he packs a punch that's for sure. He has a charisma about himself and is a unique talent."
Middleweight Darren Sutherland, who won a bronze medal for Ireland at Augusts Olympics, was helping McCarthy prepare for Mexico with a number of sparing sessions at an international training camp at the National Stadium in Dublin last week.
The Youth squads of Great Britain, Romania and England - who are preparing for the Commonwealth Games - also took part in the National Stadium training camp.
The camp concluded last weekend and Moore reports that they are now well into the final phase of their preparations as the count down to Guadalajara begins in earnest.
He added: "All of the squads got a lot of work done in Dublin and the training camp was ideal preparation for the World Youth Championships.
"We got a lot of sparring done at the Stadium and the test matches between ourselves England, Great Britain and Romania were very competitive which is exactly what is required ahead of a major tournament."
The 2008 AIBA World Youth Championships will take place between October 25th and November 1st at the Lopez Mateo's Gymnasium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Sixty eight nations have entered the tournament.
Irish Squad AIBA World Youth Championships Guadalajara Mexico October 25th/November 1st
51Kg: Ruari Dalton (St John's Belfast)
54Kg: Tyrone McCullagh (Illies Golden Gloves )
57Kg: Tyrone McKenna (Oliver Plunkett Belfast)
60Kg: Ray Moylett (St Anne's Westport)
64Kg: Jamie Kavanagh (Crumlin BC)
69Kg: David Joyce (St Michael's Athy)
75Kg: Bernard Roe (Dublin Docklands)
81Kg: Thomas McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett Belfast) |
|
|
|