By James Stillerman – Team United States defeated Team Ireland 8 to 4 in a battle with some of the best amateur boxers from both countries. Many of these fighters are among the elite boxers in the world who have won numerous international medals and are 2020 Olympic hopefuls.
USA vs. Ireland Northeast Boxing Tour is part of a three-city tour that started at the Club Royale Entertainment Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The next two stops will take place on Thursday, March 15th at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts and on Wednesday, March 21st at the Downtown Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire.
2016 Youth World Championships bronze medalist and 2017 USA Elite Boxing National champion, Richard Torrez (Tulare, California) defeated four-time Irish National champion, Dean Gardiner (Tipperary, Ireland) via a three-round unanimous decision in their super heavyweight match up. Torrez controlled the action and out worked and out landed Gardiner throughout their bout.
Heavyweights Adrian Tillman (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Kiril Afanasev (Dublin, Ireland) battled in a competitive, back-and-forth three-round battle in which Afanasev eked out the split decision victory. Both boxers landed numerous powerful punches.
In a battle between two young light heavyweights, Khalil Coe (Jersey City, New Jersey) and six-time Irish National titleholder, Caoimhin Hynes (Belfast, Ireland) fought a great, action-packed bout in which Coe emerged victorious via a three-round unanimous decision.
Michael Nevin (Laois, Ireland), a three-time European champions defeated two-time World Ringside Champion and 2016 Youth USA titleholder, Nikita Ababiy (Brooklyn, New York) via a three-round split decision. Both middleweight boxers connected on good combinations and power shots as the momentum swung back-and-forth.
2017 Elite World Championships bronze medalist, Troy Isley (Alexandria, Virginia), who earned a silver medal at the 2018 Strandja Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria last month beat eight-time National Irish champion, Brett McGinty (Derry, Ireland) via a three-round unanimous decision. Isley dominated this middleweight bout. He landed a wide variety of punches on McGinty, including uppercuts and worked the body well. Isley also connected on the harder punches. He was deducted a point in the third-round for repeated punches below the belt.
Kieron Molloy (Galway, Ireland), a eight-time Irish National titleholder beat Quinton Randall (Humble, Texas), a silver medalist at the 2017 Continental Champions, in a disputed three-round split decision in their welterweight match up. It appeared from ringside that Randall was the more accurate puncher and got the better of the exchanges, but the judges did not it see that way.
2016 Youth World Champions, 2017 Continental titleholder, and 2018 bronze medalist at the 2018 Strandja Tournament, Delante “Tiger” Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio) defeated eight-time Irish National champion, Wayne Kelly (Laois) via a three-round split decision. Throughout their light welterweight bout, Kelley connected on the harder shots, but Johnson landed the better combinations and was the more accurate puncher. Johnson bled from his nose by the end of the third-round.
Marc Castro (Fresno, California), two-time National Junior and Youth champion dominated Francis Cleary (Mayo, Ireland) throughout their three-round bout en route to a unanimous decision in their lightweight fight. He out worked and out landed Cleary and had the edge in power shots.
The only other American fighter to be a two-time National Junior and Youth Champion was Shakur Stevenson, who was a 2016 Olympic silver medalist and now an undefeated professional fighter. This was Castro first time boxing at the elite level. He also moved up in weight for this fight.
Keyshawn Davis (Norfolk, Virginia), who just earned his first international title at the 2018 Strandja Tournament beat George Bates (Dublin) via a three-round unanimous decision. Davis had a stronger work rate than Bates and connected on the more effective combinations.
2017 Elite Women’s National champion and Continental Champions silver medalist Oshae Jones (Toledo, Ohio) defeated Grainne Walsh (Dublin) via a three-round split decision. This was a great, action-packed welterweight bout, in which both boxers connected on big power shots.
Kellie Harrington (Dublin), a 2017 silver medalist at the Female World Champions beat 2016 National Women’s Golden Gloves silver medalist and 2016 USA National titleholder, Stacia Suttles (Bronx, New York) via a three-round unanimous decision. Harrington connected the harder shots and got the better of the exchanges.
Virginia “Ginny” Fuchs (Kemah, Texas), who went 17-0 last year which included four international gold medals and won a bronze medal at the Strandja Tournament this year, scored the lone stoppage victory of the night as Lauren Hogan’s (Offaly, Ireland) corner stopped the bout at one minute and fifty-seven seconds in the second-round. Fuchs dominated the bout as she landed whatever she wanted and connected on the harder shots. Hogan continued to fight hard, but was outclassed in this flyweight bout, although the stoppage appeared to be a bit premature.
