Brendan Irvine got Ireland off to a winning start at the World Championships in Doha, but Dean Walsh suffered a split-decision defeat before Michael O’Reilly produced a brilliant performance to reach the last 16 on a mixed opening night of action at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena.
Antrim light-flyweight Irvine was composed throughout his contest against Nico Hernandez of the USA, dominating the fight with a composed display that betrayed his tender years.
The 19-year-old took all three rounds on a 3-0 unanimous points win to set up a last-16 clash with Turkey’s Muhammet Unlu on Thursday.
“It was a good fight, not only for me but for Ireland, to get us off to a winning start,” said Irvine afterwards, with head coach Billy Walsh praising the teenager’s approach.
“It was a very measured performance,” said Walsh. “We obviously observed his opponent and we had the tactics right for him.
“Brendan’s been in good form, he had a good European Games so his confidence has grown since then. He’s into the last 16 of the World Championships, which is fantastic for a young man his age.”
O’Reilly joins him in the last 16 after the Portlaoise middleweight made relatively easy work of what had looked likely to be a tough challenge in the form of Ukrainian Valerii Kharlamov.
A classy opening round from O’Reilly saw him win over all three judges before his opponent bulled forward in the second stanza.
The 22-year-old European Games champion regained control in the last round to claim a 3-0 points win.
“It was a very tough fight, three tough rounds, he kept coming forward, there was no going back from him,” said O’Reilly on the challenge. “He kept the pressure on me but I had to just hit him and move and that’s how I got the win.”
O’Reilly will be out again on Thursday evening against Australia’s Daniel Lewis and Ireland’s technical coach Zaur Antia believes there is more to come from the two-time Irish senior champion.
“He’s a tight boxer and he moves very well,” said Antia on O’Reilly. “He started to exhaust him [Kharlamov], because he has a very good engine and he throws accurate punches.
“He dominated the last round and fought the last round exactly the way we wanted. He has plenty of energy now for the next fight.”
Wexford light-welterweight Walsh was less fortunate, making his exit after a close call against Luis Dian Arcon of Venezuela.
Walsh, the nephew of Irish head coach Billy, made a good start to the contest, taking the opening round but his Venezuelan took the second round on two of the judges’ cards before claiming the last to scrap a 2-1 points decision.
The decision was slightly harsh on Walsh, who appeared to tire slightly in the final round of a physically-demanding contest, although his uncle was reluctant to make excuses afterwards.
“It was close and we just realised afterwards that he won the first round and I thought he won the second,” said the Irish head coach. “The third round, I felt he was winning, but the last few seconds he got caught with a few shots and maybe that decided it. It was a very close fight and it could have went either way.
“I’m disappointed for him because he worked hard and I thought he was the better boxer – he was hitting him with the cleaner shots, but that’s boxing.”
There are two Irish boxers in action on Wednesday with Belfast lightweight Seán McComb competing in the afternoon against Mexican Lindolfo Garca Delgado and Wexford welterweight Adam Nolan in against Eimantas Stanionis of Lithuania in the evening session.
