Olympic lightweight Champion Katie Taylor is the 10th fight in the running order for the Elite National Championships on Friday night in Dublin’s National Stadium. In her first outing since winning the inaugural women’s Olympic gold medal last August in the ExCel Arena at the London Games, Taylor faces Polish opposition in Karolina Grazcyk.
The fight, which is an additional bout and not part of the National championships, comes immediately after the anticipated 81kg division meeting between European light heavyweight champion Joe Ward and Beijing silver medallist Kenny Egan.
Ward has beaten Egan in the last two meetings but Egan, in his 13th straight senior final, hopes to regain his crown from the Moate teenager, who has been recently been fighting in the professional World Series of Boxing.
Taylor’s fight, which is expected to draw a large attendance to the 2,000-capacity arena, is the first of two bouts she has over the weekend, the second being staged at the Bord Gais Theatre on Sunday night against Germany’s Maike Klueners.
After the disappointment of the 2013 Women’s European Championships being held over to next year, when Ireland had hoped to act as host, the 26-year-old will have little other than the EBU Championships later this year, which removes two of her great Olympic rivals Russian, Sofya Ochigava and Tajikistan’s Matzuna Chorieva.
Olympic foe
Only boxers from the 27 member states of the European Union compete in the event, which does allow for another meeting with Britain’s Natasha Jonas, who Taylor defeated in the first fight of London 2012.
Olympic bronze medallist Miachael Conlan is the third fight on against Ryston’s Ray Phelan in the flyweight division with Olympian welterweight and Bray club-mate of Taylor, Adam Nolan, facing Willy McLaughlin from Illies in the 11th fight of the card.
Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes or London silver medallist John Joe Nevin are not involved on the night as the former withdrew because of the flu and Nevin is injured.
The first 49kg (light flyweight) bout gloves off at 7pm.
Elite Nationals: Running order
(1) 49kg: (Light-flyweight) – Hugh Myres (Ryston) v TJ Waite (Cairn Ldge) (2) 57kg: (Featherweight) – Michaela Walsh (Holy Family) v Joanna Lambe (Carrickmacross) (3) 52kg: (Flyweight) – Michael Conlan (St John Bosco) v Chris Phelan (Ryston) (4) 64kg: (Light-welterweight) – Ross Hickey (Grangecon) v Ray Moylette (St Anne’s) (5) 56kg: (Bantamweight) – Declan Geraghty (Crumlin) v Gary McKenna (Old School) (6) 60kg: (Lightweight) – Sean McComb (Holy Trinity) v George Bates (St Mary’s) (7) 75kg: (Middleweight) – Jason Quigley (Finn Valley) v Roy Sheahan (St Michael’s Athy) (8) 91kg: (Heavyeweight) – Tommy McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett) v Jimmy Sweeney (Drimnagh) (9) 81kg: (Light-heavyweight) – Joe Ward (Moate) v Ken Egan (Neilstown) (10) Additional Bout – 60kg: (Lightweight) – Katie Taylor (Ireland) v Karolina Grazcyk (Poland) (11) 69kg: (Welterweight) – Adam Nolan (Bray) v Willie McLaughlin (Illies GG) (12) 54kg: (Bantamweight) – Michelle Lynch (Golden Gloves) v Dervla Duffy (Ryston) (13) 64kg: (Light-welterweight) – Sarah Close (Holy Family) v Kelly Harrington (Corinthians) (14) 91+kg: (Super-heavyweight) – Sean Turner (Drimnagh) v Niall Kennedy Gorey)
