Cliona D’Arcy has been crowned Ireland’s latest world boxing champion.
he Gort native won the heavyweight title at the World Youth championships in La Nucia, Spain.
She is the current European Youth champion and becomes the first Irish female boxer at win a gold medal at World Youth (U18) level.
A member of the Tobar Pheadair Boxing Club, she has looked assured throughout the competition.
This was again the case in the gold medal bout against India’s Kirti Kirti who lacked nothing in effort or commitment.
But D’Arcy picked her off at will when she came forward. Her superior skills and ability to land scoring punches meant she controlled the fight on her way to a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 win.
Her victory completes a remarkable year for Irish female boxing at international level, with Ireland winning two gold medals at the world senior championships and three gold medals at the European championships where they topped the medals and ranking table.
The Irish team will bring home six medals from these championships with Dearbha Tinnelly (light heavyweight), Laura Moran (light middleweight), Jim Donovan (welterweight), Lee McEvoy (lightweight) and Nathan Ojo (cruiserweight) all winning bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Dublin heavyweight Thomas Carty made it four wins on the spin when he stopped Ukrainian journeyman Pavlo Krolenko on the undercard of the Dillan White-Jermaine Franklin fight in the Wembley Arena.
The Phibsboro southpaw looked to be on course for a routine points win when he landed a stunning left hand early in the fifth round, which floored the Ukrainian who had won just three of his 13 previous outcomes.
He managed to beat the count, but Carty then landed a barrage of blows and Krolenko slid to the canvass. Though he got back on his feet he was unsteady, and the referee brought the contest to a halt after 72 seconds of the round. The contest was scheduled to last six rounds.
Carty started very well, working his jab efficiently. The Ukrainian improved though he never threatened to cause an upset. But Carty – who took the fight at short notice – finally found the perfect punch in the fifth to end the contest. He has now won his last three fights inside the distance.
In London’s O2 Arena Pierce O’Leary improved his professional record to 11-0 when he comfortably overcame the challenge of Namibia’s Emmanuel Mangandjela (99-89, 96-92, 99-89) to lift the vacant WBC International lightweight belt.
The Dubliner scored two knockdowns against Mangandjela, who had a winning 16-3 record, but the winner had to go the distance for the first time since February 2021.