Kellie Harrington set off on the road to the Paris Olympics at the European Games in Poland with a victory over Slovakia's Miroslava Jedinakova in the lightweight (60kg) division.
The Olympic champion faced an awkward opener against the tall and athletic Jedinakova, and while the Slovakian was the more aggressive in the first round, leading with the long left jab, neither fighter really landed too much of note.
Harrington certainly upped the workrate in the second, looking for openings, however, her opponent kept on the front foot, while working well to move back out of Harrington’s range.
The Tokyo gold medallist got some real joy in the final round with some strong connecting punches to wrap up the 4-1 victory.
Harrington scored three 10:9 results from four of the five judges, with Canada’s Edward Blanchard awarding Jedinakova a 2-1 overall win.
However, it is Harrington who will progress to the last-16, knowing that she is now just two wins away from securing a berth at the Paris Games, with the four semi-finalists in the division gaining qualification.
Dean Clancy delivered a stylish opening performance to ease past Austria's Arsen Chabyan in the lightweight division (63.5kg).
Leading with a strong left jab, the Sligo boxer controlled the fight early on with a near-flawless display, frustrating his opponent who could not trouble Clancy.
Winning the opening two rounds on all five judges’ scorecards, Chabyan had to go for broke in the final round, and while he was game throughout, the Austrian did not have the technical ability to really bother Clancy.
Clancy was edged in that scrappy final round but still took the overall decision 5:0 to progress and like Harrington is just two wins away from a place at the Olympics.
Jude Gallagher was next of the Irish contingent in action, taking on Javier Ibanez Diaz from Bulgaria in the featherweight (57kg) division, and while he got off to the perfect start, winning the first round on all five judges' cards, he was unable to maintain the intensity for rounds two and three.
His opponent won the 2014 Youth Olympics gold medal for Cuba, and he showed his class as the fight progressed with a decent defence and the ability to land sharp powerful punches.
Gallagher, the 2022 Commomwealth Games gold medallist, was certainly the better boxer in the opening round but perhaps punched himself out with many wayward shots expending vital energy.
But it was a highly entertaining encounter between two realistic medal contenders, and while the third round was quite even, as Gallagher was roared on by a strong Irish contingent inside the arena, the Bulgaria boxer was rewarded for his accurate approach and progresses taking the 4:1 split decision.
