While last week’s contentious Open Elite Competition might be done and dusted, Ireland European gold medallist Ray Moylette still lives in hope of securing one of the much sought after plane tickets to the upcoming AIBA World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Fresh from his gold medal winning performance at the European championships in Ankara, Turkey the St Anne’s combatant figured his success in the Turkish capital would have secured him the 64 kg spot on the ten man squad heading to Baku.
“Although it’s not up to me who goes away to the world championships I taught I did enough in the Europeans to maybe secure my place on the team to Baku, but there is certain people who don’t think so, but there is not a lot I can do now only hope and pray until the weekend and hope that Billy Walsh and the IABA pick the best possible team to send out and get medals”.
Fighting Hickey only fair choice
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While Irelands first every world youth gold medallist feels upset that his efforts in eastern Europe haven’t proved more progressive he does accept current nation senior champion Ross Hickey also has valid claim to the world championship place that more importantly doubles up as one of only two qualifying tournaments for the 2012 London Olympics.
“Ross Hickey has his argument as well as he is the senior champion of Ireland and I won the Europeans as I went out when he couldn’t go out so it’s fair to say the two of us have a right to shout for a place on the team”.
Having out gunned the heavy handed Crumlin banger Philip Sutcliffe in this year’s National Senior Championships Hickey was denied army leave to take his place at this year’s European championships.
The Grangecon fighters absence coupled with beaten finalist Sutcliffe nursing a broken hand sustained in the semi-finals of the senior championships the door was left ajar for Moylette who captured gold along with Joe Ward, who at 17 became one of the youngest ever champions in the 87-year history of the European Championships.
Next in this rather complicated saga came the box-offs/open elite tournament where claims for places in Baku could be chewed over, what ensued over the coming days can best be described as confusing as clarity as to what exactly the roll of the box-offs/open elite tournament was in relation to team selection could not be found.
With the farce rumbling on a number of prominent senior fighters pulled out of the open tournament citing injury, included Moylette with a bruised hand, while Hickey continued his winning form beating Sonny Upton of (Holy Family GG) in the final to tighten his grip on the world championship slot.
But it seems Hickey is still not guaranteed the spot as it was finally acknowledged that the box-offs/open elite tournament would not automatically guarantee the winner their, as other factors such as senior champion, international success and current form would be taken into account.
So having travelled something resembling a circle its seems both senior champion Ross Hickey and European champion Ray Moylette are right back where they started, so what now.
Still holding out some hope Moylette suggests maybe a box-off and a genuine one at that might be the only fair solution at this stage but with so much time spent swirling in a vortex of confusion there may not be time.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we did have to compete against each other in the ring within the next few weeks and sure if the two of us are back fit and the two of us are available then there should be no problem at all with us boxing each other”.
“I do think the two of use boxing each other for the place on the team is probably the fairest option if it’s available but there is a training camp next week in Italy so there might be no time to box off so we will just have to wait and see”.
