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McConnell will box for a place in the light-middleweight final on Wednesday
ByDavid MohanBBC Sport NI journalist
- Published21 September 2026, 14:03 BST
Updated 4 hours ago
Jon McConnell secured the first medal for Team Ireland at the European Boxing Championships, while Jude Gallagher and Michaela Walsh are both one win from the podium in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist McConnell was a 3-2 winner over Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani in their 75kg quarter-final.
Both boxers were deducted a point in the final round of a closely-contested affair, but it was McConnell who edged through by the narrowest margin.
The Belfast man will face Azerbaijan’s Nabi Isgandarov for a place in the final on Wednesday.
“I’m over the moon,” McConnell told Boxing Ireland.
“It was a close fight, a tough fight. he just wouldn’t stop, was dirty with the head but I just kept my composure in the last round and finished strong in the last 30 seconds.
“I got dragged into his fight a bit but knew I had it won.
“The point off I didn’t know what way it was going to go, then he had a point off and rightly so for the head, but into the semi-final now – let’s go.”
Gallagher and Walsh into quarter-finals
Michaela Walsh ensured a good start to the evening session with an impressive victory over Montengro’s Bojana Gojkovic in their last 16 bout at featherweight.
The Belfast woman dominated from start to finish, winning all three rounds on each of the five cards in her first outing in Sofia and will now meet Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova for a place on the podium on Wednesday.
“On the day, you just don’t know how you’re going to perform,” Walsh told Boxing Ireland.
“You can prepare as best as you can, have all the tactics, but ultimately, it’s when you get into the ring and how you show up on the day.
“I’m just thankful I showed up today and got the performance.”
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,
Gallagher will box for a medal on Wednesday against Ewart Andrés Marín Hernández
Earlier on Monday, Jude Gallagher booked his place in the lightweight quarter-finals with a third-round stoppage of France’s Lounes Hamraoi.
The County Tyrone man was down on four cards after the first round, but stepped it up in the second and third, forcing standing counts before the contest was waved off.
Gallagher will now look forward to a quarter-final on Wednesday when he takes on Cuban-born Spanish boxer, Ewart Andrés Marín Hernández.
“I tried to box him in the first round,” Gallagher told Boxing Ireland after his win.
“He was a counter-puncher, southpaw, and just edged me in the first round when I was a bit slow.
“I had to change the tactics in the second round and bring the fight to him, hurt him with a body shot, [forced] a count in the second and finished him in the third, so I’m delighted.”
It wasn’t to be for Team Ireland’s Kellie McLoughlin in her last 16 bout at lightweight.
The Dubliner – who was a late replacement for the injured Kellie Harrington – lost out on a 4-1 split decision to France’s Sthélyne Grosy.
Middleweight Gavin Rafferty also bowed out, beaten by Poland’s Mateusz Urban on a unanimous decision with a point deducted in the final round.
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