HEAVYWEIGHT MEDAL PROSPECT Jack Marley will be cursing his luck after an accidental clash of heads — and a consequent cut — led to his exiting the Men’s European Championships at the last-16 stage.
The Monkstown fighter, one of three Irish fighters to be crowned European champion at the U22 age grade in March, exited his first major tournament as a senior on a technical decision after a bad-looking gash had opened over his right eye.
Just 10 seconds into the second round, Marley’s right brow collided with the forehead of Greek opponent Vagkan Nanitzanian during a close-quarters exchange. Nanitzanian immediately followed up with a left hook to the same spot. One or both of these blows opened a bad-looking gash in the most inconvenient place for Marley, forcing the referee to halt the bout there and then. The winner would be decided by the judges scorecards, not only for the first round but for the 10 seconds which had elapsed in the second prior to Marley’s cut.
The prodigiously talented Marley, just 19, had taken the opener 3-2 on the judges’ scorecards and so was in the driving seat. With the scores for the second round tacked on, the judges had it exactly level: 20-18, 18-20, 19-19, 19-19, 19-19. As such, the bout was scored a draw — but in order for one fighter to progress to the next round, the three judges who scored it 19-19 were asked to choose a winner.
They leant towards the Greek, perhaps partly swayed by the reality that if Marley went through, he probably wouldn’t have been able to compete in any case such was the severity of his cut.
It was the culmination of a disappointing Thursday at what has nonetheless been a strong showing by a young and inexperienced Irish team at these Europeans.
Earlier, Esker’s Luke Maguire, himself a major-tournament debutant as a senior, was only barely denied his second victory of the week by Georgia’s Eskerkhan Madiev, losing a 3-2 split decision to the third seed at 71kg.
Armagh man Eugene McKeever, who fights out of Holy Family in Drogheda, also bowed out to a seeded fighter, bested on a unanimous decision by the no.2-ranked Serb Vakhid Abbasov, originally from Russia.
However, Ireland will have four boxers competing for their first European medals at the quarter-final stage tomorrow: Dundalk’s Ricky Nesbitt (51kg, Holy Family Drogheda), Dublin’s Sean Mari (51kg, Monkstown BC), Belfast’s JP Hale (60kg, Star ABC), and Galway’s Gabriel Dossen (75kg, Olympic BC).
Irish squad
- 48kg: Ricky Nesbitt, Holy Family, Drogheda
- 51kg: Sean Mari, Monkstown BC, Dublin
- 54kg: Dylan Eagleson, St. Paul’s, Belfast
- 57kg: Adam Hession, Monivea BC, Galway
- 60kg: JP Hale, Star ABC, Belfast
- 63.5kg: Brandon McCarthy, St. Michael’s, Athy
- 67kg: Eugene McKeever, Holy Family, Drogheda
- 71kg: Luke Maguire, Esker BC, Dublin
- 75kg: Gabriel Dossen, Olympic, Galway
- 92kg: Jack Marley, Monkstown BC, Dublin
