Conlan, Quigley Hammer Competition At AIBA Championships

London 2012 bronze medalist Michael Conlan and current European Elite champion Jason Quigley advanced to the last-16 of the AIBA World Men’s Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday.

But Tipperary heavyweight Con Sheehan lost out on a unanimous decision to Cuba’s Pan American champion Yohanndi Ortega. Quigley, who boxes out of the Finn Valley BC in Donegal, beat Indian middleweight Vijender Singh, a bronze medal winner at the 2008 Olympics, on a majority decision in Central Asia.

Conlan, who has moved up from flyweight to bantamweight for Almaty, followed that up with a unanimous decision over Hungary’s Kriszthan Nagy, the St John Bosco BC Belfast orthodox impressing on his World Championships debut at 56kg.

Quigley and Conlan now join Paddy Barnes and Tommy McCarthy in the last-16. Joe Ward and Sean McComb will be in action tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, sixteen titles were claimed at the first National Championships of the 2013/14 season at Dublin’s National Stadium on Saturday.

Brendan Irvine, Jamie Higgins, Karen O’Sullivan, Hugh Joyce and George Bates added their names to the honours list in the ring.

Austeja Acuite, Dean Walsh, Johnny Harty and Robin Smith emerged victorious, while Stephen Broadhurst edged out JP Delaney on a split decision. Geoffrey Kavanagh, John Joe McDonagh and David Joyce also finished on top of their respective podiums.