Ward progresses to boxing final in Baku

Moate boxer Joe Ward is through to the final of the President"s Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joe is guaranteed a silver medal, matching the award he won last year at this tournament. The tournament brings together 150 boxers from Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Israel, Georgia, Ireland and Ukraine. 'We have won silver and bronze medals at this level before but not gold. However, I would be quietly confident that we can put that to right this time out, but it will be very tough,' said Irish coach Jim Moore prior to departing for Azerbaijan. Joe Ward went out with the gold as his aim and the Moate boxer defeated his Azerbaijani opponent 22-3 in the quarter-final on Sunday last. In the semi-final on Monday afternoon, Joe was an 11-2 winner over his Turkish opponent. Joe is joined in the finals by Michael O"Reilly (Drimnagh BC) who is competing at 66kg. Back home it was a disappointing weekend for the club boxers involved in All-Ireland finals with both Davy Joyce and Joe Joyce losing their finals. Davy Joyce failed to reproduce the fine form he was showing in training and lost out to Francis Mongan from the Finn Valley club on a 3-1 scoreline. The most unlucky man in the finals was surely Joe Joyce, who boxed very well against Jason McDonagh from St Anne"s, only to hear the score declared a 1-1 draw. The count-back could not separate the boxers, a second count-back could not give a decision and finally the judges called a 3-2 decision in favour of McDonagh. Next weekend, Moate"s Gary Molloy returns to action after a long break when he competes in the National Youth (formerly Junior) Championships which are scheduled to run for the next three weekends. Gary is seeking to win a third belt having already won the national U21 and Intermediate titles this season. The Youth Championship is open to boxers born in 1991 and 1992.