TWO-TIME CHAMPION Joe Ward is into the final of the European Boxing Championships, while Brendan Irvine and Kurt Walker have been awarded bronze medals after suffering defeat today.
Belfast flyweight Irvine had booked his place in the semi-finals thanks to victory over Spain’s Gabriel Escobar earlier in the week.
Facing Niall Farrell of England in Kharkiv, ‘the Wee Rooster’ began strongly but ended up losing out by unanimous decision.
Bantamweight Walker, also from Belfast, took on Mykola Butsenko and went down 5-0 to the Ukrainian in his last-four bout.
The third Irishman in action was Westmeath native Ward, and the 2016 Olympian met Italian Valentino Manfredonia in the light heavyweight semis this evening.
There were odd scenes after the first round as Manfredonia appeared to be crying in his corner due to a cut sustained above the eye.
While his opponent then suffered a knee injury, Ward looked comfortable throughout and claimed a unanimous win.
The 23-year-old will now contest his third European final tomorrow afternoon — having previous won gold in 2011 and 2015.
