Three national boxing titles return to Limerick

LIMERICK'S AIBA World Junior finalist Paddy Donovan and Kevin Sheehy convincingly retained their National U/22 titles at the National Stadium on Friday night.

The Our Lady of Lourdes BC and St Francis BC stands out, who both won National U/22 belts in January 2018, earned unanimous decisions over Castlebar welterweight Aaron Daly and Cavan heavyweight Thomas Maughan at the home of Irish boxing.

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association were using the National U/22s as part of their selection process for the European U/22 Championships in Russia in March

19 National U/22 titles were claimed at the Stadium on Friday evening. Donovan, who took home lightweight silver from the World Juniors in Turkey in 2015, and Sheedy are expected to enter next month's National Elite Championships at the Stadium.

Donovan said his latest title win - the 13th of his career - puts him in a good position ahead of the National Elites.

The third title to return to Limerick was the 81+kg title which was claimed, for the second year in a row, by Nell Fox, fighting out of Rathkeale Boxing Club. Fox received a walkover on the night.

The flagship tournament of Irish boxing has a key significance this year in the lead up the World Men's and Women's Elite Championships and Tokyo 2020 qualifiers in Sochi and Siberia next September and October.

However, doubts remain about boxing's participation at Tokyo 2020 because of International Olympic Committee (IOC) concerns about governance, anti-doping and refereeing and judging.

IOC President Thomas Bach has previously stated that he's still not convinced that there was no match-fixing at the boxing event at Rio 2016 which was scandalised by controversial judging. 

All 36 referees and judges at Rio 2016 have since been indefinitely banned from the sport.

The IOC is also concerned about the election of Uzbekistan's Gafur Rakhimov as President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Rakhimov has been linked to organised crime, an allegation he has consistently denied.

The IOC has launched an inquiry into the AIBA which is expected to be completed next June. Bach has assured boxers that boxing will feature at the 32nd Olympiad.