Rio 2016 Olympian Steven Donnelly is looking forward to shaking off some 31st Olympiad ring rust against England at Dublin’s National Stadium on Friday night.
The All Saints BC man moves up a notch from welter to middleweight for the weekend’s clash at the home of Irish boxing.
Donnelly, who qualified for Rio 2016 through the World Series of Boxing (WSB), replaces John Joyce, who replaced Conor Wallace in the 75kg Irish vest.
Wallace picked up a hand injury and was forced to withdraw, and Joyce, a late call-up, had to withdraw because of the flu.
It’s been an eventful year for Donnelly, with the Ulsterman winning two fights at the Rio Olympics before losing out narrowly at the last-eight stage to Morocco’s current AIBA World Elite champion Mohamed Rabbi, who claimed welterweight bronze in Rio.
Rabbi, incidentally, has since switched codes to the pro ranks with Cork manager Gary Hyde.
Delighted to announce the signing of the 2015 world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, Morocco's welterweight star Mohammed Rabbi! pic.twitter.com/4qZkblb39w
— Gary Hyde (@nowhere2hyde) November 1, 2016
The World, WSB and African Confederation champion is due to arrive in Cork on 5 January and will help train some of Cork’s talented young prospects at the Cork Board Centre of Excellence in Churchfield ahead of his pro debut in his native Casablanca in February.
Donnelly said: “I’ll fill in (moving up to middle) no problem. I was down training in Dublin last week and I felt good enough so I’ll take the fight no problem at middle.
“The fight will shake off the cobwebs and do me no harm. I’m looking forward to it.”
The former Irish Elite champion joins fellow London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympians Darren O’Neill, Joe Ward and Brendan Irvine on the Irish team.
Team England are due to arrive in Dublin tomorrow.
