Frankie claims silver at European Junior Boxing Championships

A young boxer from Ballybane is the toast of the Galway boxing community after claiming a silver medal in the European Junior Boxing Championships in Russia over the weekend.

Frankie Cleary (16), who is a member of Olympic Boxing Club, was competing in his first major international tournament, and follows in the footsteps of his cousin, James, who won silver at the European championships two years ago.

“I’m absolutely delighted, it is a great achievement to win a silver medal at the European championships in only my fourth major international fight,” Cleary told Sentinel Sport, shortly after arriving back at Dublin Airport at lunchtime yesterday, where he was greeted by a crowd of more than 60 people, including his parents, Martin and Annie.

“I went to the championships with the attitude that I would fight as hard as I could and take home a medal, and while I would love to have won the gold, I am very happy with the silver,” he said.

According to both the boxer and one of his Olympic BC coaches, Michael Mongan, the colour of medal hanging around his neck should have been gold, only for what they both called an “unusual” decision from the judges, who awarded the contest to his Bulgarian opponent on a 3-2 split, but both took the set-back on the chin, so to speak.

“I thought I had won the fight, but that’s boxing, some you win and some you lose. We were waiting in the ring for about 20 minutes after the fight as the computer scoring system failed, and they had to go back to the judges for the decision.

“In the end they gave my opponent the win on a split decision, so that was disappointing, but at the same time, I have come home with the silver medal and I’m delighted with that,” he said.