Joe Ward has booked his final place at the Rio Olympic Games next year after recording a 3-0 unanimous decision semi-final victory over Ishod Rasulov of Uzbekistan at the World Championships in Doha.
The Moate light-heavyweight qualifies for the Olympics thanks to the fact that he has secured a place in the 81kg decider at the Worlds, with both finalists heading to the Rio Games.
The 21-year-old, who has boxed three fights at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena after a four-day wait for his first bout, will meet Julio la Cruz of Cuba in the World final on Thursday after the latter’s win over Pavel Silyagin of Russia. The Cuban defeated Ward in the 2013 World semi-final.
“It’s a massive win after the ups and downs I had in my career, missing out on London [2012 Olympic Games], then I tried to go the APB route, I did okay at that but got pipped at the post a few times,” said Ward after stepping out of the ring.
“A lot of people wrote me off in a way, but I knew myself I’d stick with it. Eddie Bolger [coach] stuck with me, my family at home, my kids and my girlfriend motivated me to keep going and I got what I wanted. That’s my dream, to go to an Olympic Games and I’ve got a World silver medal – it’s a massive achievement for me,” added the Moate boxer.
Ward started a bit tentatively but after his Uzbek opponent picked up a cut in the first round, the Irishman boxed with confidence en route to a 29-28 win on all three judges’ cards, losing the last round as he looked to avoid any slip-up in the final stanza.
Ward is the second Irish male to qualify for a final at the 18th edition of the Worlds, following the lead of Michael Conlan who booked his final spot with a win over Dzmitry Asanau of Belarus on Sunday night.
Up until their success at the tournament, Jason Quigley was the only Irishman to previously reach a senior world final, losing the 2013 middleweight decider to Kazakh Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, who Michael O’Reilly of Portlaose defeated last weekend.
O’Reilly will also definitely qualify for the Olympics if he wins a third-place box-off against Hosam Abdin of Egypt on Wednesday night.
Conlan competes in his final also on Wednesday night, taking on Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan, the world No 22 and Asian Games silver medallist.
The Belfast bantamweight is already qualified for Rio through the World Series of Boxing, and he claims his run to the Worlds decider is partly down to his new level of confidence gained from being appointed as Irish team captain by head coach Billy Walsh.
“Me being captain was the natural choice for Billy,” said Conlan. “I’m the only one here who’s been to the Olympics and took a medal and after coming out of the Europeans with the Best Boxer [award] and the gold, I think it was an easy enough choice in my performances and how I carry myself and train.
“I always train as hard as I can to be the best I can,” continued the 23-year-old. “My mindset getting in there is what pushed me to be captain because I’m always going for gold, nothing else but gold, and everything I’ve said I’ve done so I’m going to keep doing that,” added Conlan.
