Galway boxer James ‘Rock’ Cleary, pictured above with his father and brother, battled his way to a well-earned silver medal at last week’s European Schoolboy Championships finals in Grozny, Russia.
Fourteen-years-old Cleary, who is the current Irish Champion at 42kg, overcame opponents from Armenia and Ukraine to reach the final before narrowly losing out to Russian champion Gabriel Muzaev in the 44.5kg final.
Cleary, who boxes out of the Olympic BC, was 1-0 up in the final at the end of the first round, but Muzaev went 3-1 ahead before the end of the second and accumulated two additional points in the third.
Gary Ward of St Michael’s Boxing Club was the only other Galway boxer in the 18-man Irish squad at the championships, and was deemed unlucky to lose 5-3 to a Ukrainian opponent in the earlier rounds.
