IRELAND COACH BILLY Walsh was “over the moon” as three of his fighters closed in on medals at the World Championships in Almaty.
Michael Conlan, Jason Quigley and Tommy McCarthy all won their last 16 bouts, leaving a win away from a guaranteed bronze medal.
After Conlan and Quigley sealed their progress in the morning session, it fell to McCarthy to complete a perfect day against German heavyweight Emir Ahmatovic.
He scored a unanimous 29-28 decision on all three cards, setting up a make-or-break medal eliminator with second seed Yamil Peralta of Argentina.
“I know the talent that he has,” Walsh said.
“He has been phenomenal and had great potential but he has never fulfilled that potential because of his work ethic in and around the gym.
“We’ve pushed him hard. We’ve changed the programs to suit his type of training and to get more out of him.
At the end of the day it comes down to if you really want it, and he really wanted it. The last 10 seconds he was out on his feet and he threw more punches than the German.”
All three quarter-finals take place on Wednesday. Conlan faces Vladimir Nikitin in the bantamweight division while Quigley will meet fourth seed Zolta Harcsa of Hungary in the middleweight division.
Paddy Barnes, Sean McComb and Joe Ward can all join them in the last eight with wins tomorrow.
“You dream of going in and the three guys coming out [with wins],” Walsh said. “Usually you get one or you get two but to get three in a row is great.
“If we get three tomorrow we’ll have a similar smile on our face.”
