Castlebar Boxing Club’s Natalia Fascizewska will fight for gold on Saturday at the European Under-23 Boxing Championships in Budapest after a stunning semi-final victory.
She’s now guaranteed at least a silver medal, while five other Irish boxers have earned bronze medals at the competition.
The Mayo southpaw defeated Georgia’s Khuraman Kasumova after the referee stopped their 57kg semi-final in the second round.
The first round started cagily, but as Kasumova tried to chase Fascizewska, the Irish fighter began landing sharp punches and gaining confidence.
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The gap widened further in the second round, where Fascizewska consistently found a home for her straight left hand, forcing the referee to issue the Georgian three standing counts.
The fight was stopped with a minute remaining in the round, seeing Fascizewska through to Saturday’s final.
Also in action for Ireland on Friday, Louis Rooney lost out by stoppage in the 50kg semi-final against Azerbaijan’s Subhan Mamedov.
The first round was closely fought, with both boxers landing clean combinations and showing a high level of skill, but Mamedov claimed the session on four scorecards.
The Azerbaijani fighter repeated that feat in the second round despite being rocked back by a straight right from the Belfast man with a minute to go.
However, the final round was definitive for Mamedov. Rooney suffered a point deduction, and was knocked down by a stiff counter punch as he went in search of a miracle to fight his way back into contention.
But he was stopped with 30 seconds left of the fight, taking home a bronze medal for his efforts.
The Irish team has secured six medals across the tournament, with Cliona D’Arcy, Ava Henry, Tiffany Spencer and Rebecca Kavanagh also claiming bronze.
