Published: Wednesday, 4th November, 2009 6:00pm

Ward enjoys scintillating international double

by Kevin O'Neill

MOATE boxer Joe Ward was in scintillating form as he helped Ireland defeat both Germany and England in an International Round Robin contest at the National Stadium, Dublin last weekend.

Ward, the AIBA World junior champion, turned on the style for the second time in 24 hours to seal a 5-3 win for Ireland over Germany at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Ward had earlier seen off the challenge of England's Tom Buckley on Friday evening, helping Ireland see off their neighbours in convincing style.

With both nations locked at 4-4, Ward sealed the win after English middleweight Tom Buckley's corner retired their man at the end of the second. Ward, who is coached by Seamus Dorrington at Moate Boxing Club, was 18-0 up at the time.

The Westmeath teenager, who celebrated his 16th birthday last week, ran out a convincing 15-3 winner over middleweight Roman Fress of Germany, who claimed bronze at the AIBA World Junior Championships in Armenia earlier this year.

Ward, who claimed light middleweight gold at the same tournament, showed exactly why he is a World champion with another tour de force at IABA headquarters.

The round scoring against Fress told its own story with Ward 4-0 up at the end of the first and 7-1 ahead at the end of the second frame, before forcing Fress into a standing count in the third and final round en-route to a dominant victory. Irish team mates Michael Reilly, Dan McShane, Chris Nevin and Stephen Mulholland were the other Irish boxers to prove successful against the German team.

Ward, who has his sights firmly focused on reaching the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore next summer, was recently awarded a Westmeath Independent sports star of the month award for his success at the AIBA World Junior Championships in Armenia; the second year running that Ward has been selected for this prestigious award.

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