Moate's Molloy pipped by Chinese opponent in boxing international

Moate boxer Gary Molloy was narrowly defeated when on international duty for Ireland against China last Friday night. Molloy lost to his Chinese opponent Yong Chang 10-11 in their 52kg bout at the National Stadium in Dublin. China claimed a 6-4 victory on the night in the third and final meeting between the nations. However, Ireland won the series 2-1 (and 22-12 on aggregate) after beating China 9-3 in Waterford on the previous Wednesday night, and 9-3 in Wexford in the first of the three meetings. Kenny Egan recorded a 13-9 win over Fanlong Meng in the light-heavyweight category last weekend, and he was happy to return to winning ways at the home of Irish boxing. Olympic silver medalist Egan recently lost his national senior crown at the hands of Joe Ward as the Moate man claimed a famous victory. Interestingly, Ward also defeated Fanlong Meng (on a 9-2 scoreline) when they met in the first of the three internationals against China, Egan's victory last Friday was his first bout with a Chinese opponent since he controversially lost the 2008 Olympic final to Xiaoping Zhang in Beijing - and his first bout at the National Stadium since he lost to Joe Ward in last month's Elite light-heavyweight final. "I knew I had to go for it in the last round, but I'm pretty happy with the way I pulled things out," he said. "I had two demons to deal with here - my loss to Joe Ward in the final of the championships last month and my loss in the Olympic final the last time I met a Chinese fighter," added Egan.