Boxing: Michael Carruth's challenge for the World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight title has been confirmed for March 3rd in Madrid, writes Sean Kilfeather. He will be challenging local hero Javier Castillejo and said last night that he was confident of victory.
The fight will be televised in Ireland with the young promoter Brian Peters the main organiser. Castillejo has a very impressive record of 47 wins, many by knockout, and only four losses.
Last night Carruth, who won a welterweight gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, said that he would be going into full-time training in Jersey next week. His father, Austin, will act as his main trainer and adviser.
"I have proved that I have the ability at amateur and professional level and I aim to make history by being the first Irish man to win a gold Olympic medal and world championship in the professional ranks. "This is a very important fight for me, I need some stability in my life - I am a family man, 32years-old. What I need now is quality sparring which I will get in Jersey and I am hitting harder than ever. I must win this one and I have every confidence that I will do so," said Carruth.
He will be joined on the undercard by his fellow Dubliner, middleweight Jim Rock.
Squash: THE organisers of next month's Millennium Irish Open, which will be the first world ranking squash event to take place in Ireland, have confirmed the entry of two of the sport's biggest names, world champion Peter Nicol and Egyptian Ahmed Barada, the world number three, writes Mary Hannigan.
The pair are among seven of the world's top 10 players to have already committed themselves to the tournament, sponsored by Nivea for Men, which will be staged at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club between March 7th and 12th - the others are Irish champion Derek Ryan, Simon Parke and Paul Johnson of England, Scotland's Martin Heath and Alex Gough of Wales.
Derek Ryan produced a magnificent comeback to beat world number four Simon Parke at the Tournament of Champions in New York last night and win himself a place in today's quarter-finals against Scotland's John White. The Irish champion trailed Parke by two sets and by 10-2 in the fourth but recovered to win 3-2 after one hour, 40 minutes on court.
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (New York): D Ryan (Ire) bt S Parke (Eng) 8-15, 13-15, 15-11, 15-11, 15-13.
Athletics: Ciara Sheehy, the talented West Dublin sprinter, was yesterday rewarded for some excellent performances when she was presented with the EBS Young Athlete of the Year award for 1999, writes Peter Byrne.
Sheehy, who is coached by Jim Kilty, finished third in the European Junior 200 metres final in Riga, establishing an Irish record of 23.49 seconds in the process. At 19, she has already won three national senior titles.
Cycling: Irish professional Ciaran Power yesterday finished with the main bunch in the sixth stage of the Tour of Langkawi, one minute and three seconds behind US rider Antonio Cruz. Chris Horner, also from the US, finished in the same time as Cruz and took over leadership of the Malaysian race, deposing previous yellow jersey Mark Walters of Canada.
Power remains in 41st place overall, nine minutes and nine seconds behind Horner.
