Joe Ward felt that he was always in control throughout his gold-medal winning fight at the Elite European Championships but was still relieved to secure the victory in Bulgaria.
The Moate boxer, who landed his second European title in Samokov today, beating Peter Mullenberg from the Netherlands, said that he felt that he dominated the bout but can never be sure which way the judges will rule the contest.
Ward’s first round performance should have made up the minds of the judges, such was the dominance that he displayed in the opening three minutes, which left Mullenberg chasing the contest on the scorecards.
“I was always dominating the fight in there,” Ward told RTÉ Sport after the fight. “I never in my mind, at any stage, thought I was going to lose the fight. I was always in control. But he was a tough lad and he kept coming so you never know what way the judges are looking.
“He was a very tough opponent and he pushed me all the way. It was a good fight and I’m glad that I came out the right side of it.
“But my conditioning has been good all the way through the tournament and it showed in there as well when pressure was put on me that I was able to adapt to it fairly quick.”
