Boxing: Barnes on Euro trail as heroes of Beijing regroup
Paddy Barnes, pictured arriving home from the Olympics with his bronze medal yesterday, will have to soon switch his focus to the European Senior Championships which take place in November
WITH his Beijing blues fading fast, Belfast's Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes is expected to compete in the European Senior Championships in Liverpool from November 5 to 15.
The Belfast light flyweight will be joined by two of his Olympic colleagues, Mullingar bantam John Joe Nevin and Kildare light welter John Joe Joyce, with the trio anxious to add European titles to their portfolios.
Silver medal winner Kenneth Egan has not made up his mind as to his future just yet, but indications in Irish amateur boxing circles yesterday was that the talented Dublin light heavyweight will remain in the amateur ranks and compete in the Europeans, having won a bronze medal when they were last staged, in Bulgaria two years ago.
There is also the prospect of Egan, who recently told this writer that "my heart is in amateur boxing", going for a record seventh national senior light heavyweight title in January, to add to his two at middleweight.
One boxer who has made no secret of his ring future is Ireland's second bronze medal winner, Dublin middleweight Darren Sutherland.
Happy to have reached the semi-finals of the world's toughest amateur boxing tournament, he is expected to sign professional forms within a matter of weeks.
Sutherland has already been approached by several managers, on both sides of the Irish Sea, and he is weighing up the options.
Former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan has already put in a strong bid to become his mentor, while another ex-world champion at bantam, Wayne McCullough, is also anxious to sign him up and become his coach, with Wayne's wife Cheryl as manager.
Influential
"Sutherland has the makings of a world champion," said McGuigan who is about to establish himself as a manager at his Kent base and who is one of the most influential figures in the professional scene in Britain, where he has gained a high reputation as a TV pundit and boxing personality. He has also has the connections.
McCullough, a silver medallist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is keen for Sutherland to visit his gym in Las Vegas, where he has been living for the past 15 years.
"I love the way he fights, how he comes forward and throws punches," he said yesterday. "His style is so different to other amateur boxers.
"I would be happy to work with Darren, and he would get the best sparring partners around.
"I'm a protégé of the late, great trainer Eddie Futch, and I've worked with another great coach, Freddie Roach, so I know what I'm talking about.
"I'm aware that several American promoters are also anxious to talk to Darren but he must be cautious. I know what it is like out there, and how many sharks there are in the waters. They see dollar signs dancing before their eyes but they don't really care for the kids. "
Sutherland himself says: "I can go all the way", meaning that he intends to win a world title.
It may be an extraordinarily tall order he is setting for himself, even an unreachable one, but he is a heavy hitter whose style would be well suited to the rough-and-tumble world of the professional ring. The Irish boxing world awaits with bated breath.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that China won its first ever Olympic medals in Beijing, two golds and a bronze, matching Russia's tally. Amazingly, the once mighty Cuba, for the first time since 1968, came away without a single gold, having to be content with four silvers and four bronze.
Perhaps the switch to professionalism has something to do with it. Three of their former world amateur junior champions, Mike Perez, Luis Garcia and Alexi Acosta, will box on a card at the Neptune Stadium in Cork on September 13.
Middleweight Garcia and Acosta, a light flyweight, will be making their paid debuts. Perez has had four wins at heavyweight.
- Thomas Myler
