Irish Boxers Exit Early at European Championships in Sofia

Ireland’s European Boxing Elite Championships campaign in Sofia opened with a thud rather than a bang, as all three fighters in action on Tuesday fell at the quarter-final stage.

Daina Moorehouse was first through the ropes, tasked with solving the reach and rhythm of Spain’s Laura Fuentes Fernandez in the women’s 51kg division. She never quite did.

The 25-year-old Dubliner struggled to get inside the rangy Spaniard, who dictated the distance and tempo for long spells. Moorehouse pressed, tried to close the gap, but Fuentes Fernandez’s cleaner work and control of range told on the cards.

The judges returned a 4–1 verdict in favour of the Spaniard, with scores of 30–27, 29–28, 27–30, 29–28, 29–28. Competitive, but clear. An Irish medal chance gone before the tournament had really settled.

If that felt like a setback, what followed was harsher.

Evelyn Igharo stepped up in the women’s 70kg, facing England’s Chantelle Reid – a Paris Olympian, a world and Commonwealth Games medallist, and the current world No 1. Igharo knew the measure of the task. She had pushed Reid to a razor-thin split decision back in February.

There was no such tension this time.

Reid imposed herself early and never loosened her grip on the bout, boxing with the authority of a fighter accustomed to the big stage. She swept all five judges’ cards, each reading 30–27, for a commanding 5–0 win.

Igharo did not hide from the disappointment when she spoke to RTÉ Sport afterwards. She admitted her head “just wasn’t there completely” and acknowledged Reid’s class and status, reflecting that she “just didn’t show up on the day” against a fighter she knows well and has pushed close before. The gulf on the scorecards underlined the point.

Any hope of a late Irish lift on the day rested with Jack Marley in the heavyweight ranks. Instead, he ran into a force of nature.

Standing opposite him was Georgii Kushitashvli, a 2022 European and 2023 World medallist, and the Georgian’s physicality quickly became the defining feature of the contest. Marley, who had boxed his way into the last eight with a win over Aryan Panah Saed of the World Boxing Refugee Team, met a different level of power and pedigree here.

Kushitashvli pressed, bullied at times, and consistently did the heavier scoring. Marley battled, tried to match fire with fire, but the Georgian’s strength and experience carried the day. The judges handed down a 4–1 decision, with tallies of 30–27, 29–28, 30–27, 30–27, 28–29.