by RTÉ's Niall O'Flynn in Moscow
At least four Irish boxers will fight for European medals this week, following another very successful day at the European Senior Boxing Championships in Russia.
Olympic medallists Kenny Egan and Paddy Barnes, Kilkenny's Darren O'Neill and Kildare's John Joe Joyce have all advanced to the quarter-finals in Moscow.
For Egan and Joyce, it's a chance to add to the European bronze medals they won in 2006 and 2008, respectively.
Egan, 28, played a captain's role in dismissing the challenge of Albanian Alexsander Ramo, scoring a sensational 15 points to 2.
It is the highest score, and the biggest winning margin, of any Irish boxer at these championships so far.
The Dublin light-heavyweight, the number two seed for the gold medal, produced an awesome display of counter-punching, scoring four points in the first round, seven in the second, and added a further four in the final round.
Egan's victory completed a great day for the Irish, who won four out of the five bouts they faced at the Megasport Ice Palace on Sunday.
Also into the last eight is Darren O'Neill, who swept aside the challenge of England's Anthony Ogogo, who's recently moved up to senior level after being one of the world's best juniors.
'Any day you beat an Englishman is great for an Irish person,' he joked afterwards.
John Joe Joyce, meanwhile, dismissed Bulgaria's Evgeniy Borisov with a hugely impressive 11-1 win.
Kildare's Eric Donovan is also into the last 16, following an excellent 10-2 win over Denmark's Rashid Kassem.
Dublin's Declan Geraghty, however, went down to Magomed Abdulhamidov, of Azerbaijan.
The 9-2 scoreline did not reflect the fighting performance by a lively Geraghty, who launched attack after attack, but failed to score points.
He wasn't helped by the referee, who warned the 20-year-old Dubliner for dropping his head, and for a low blow, and awarded his rival a total of four points.
Four other Irish remain in the competition. Ray Moylette, Eric Donovan, John Joe Nevin and Tyrone McCullagh all fight on Monday for the chance to make the quarter-finals.
