Adam wins gold at European Boxing C’ships
A GOLD medal came to town this week for the homecoming of Jobstown Boxing Club’s Adam Olaniyan, who recently topped the podium at the European Schoolboy/girl Boxing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Olaniyan was part of the Irish squad that travelled over for the games, and was the only boy to scoop a Gold medal at the games last weekend.
Adam Olaniyan after topping the podium in the Boy Two 90kg Division at the European Schoolboy/girl Championships in Tbilisi.
Fighting in the Boy Two 90kg Division, cruised to the title in emphatic fashion after overcoming a tough opponent in his opening round.
Armenian opponent Avetik Hovakimyan gave Olaniyan a run for his money in the quarter-final, but the 13-year-old outworked his counterpart to card a 4-1 finish to progress into the semi-final.
Adam hit his stride in his next bout against Romanian boxer, Alexandru Ardeleanu, by winning unanimously after three rounds of sheer dominance to guarantee at least a silver medal.
The Tallaght lad came up against a home fighter, Davit Stepulenko in the final, leaving him needing to put on his best display of the tournament to ensure a gold medal win.
With the silver guaranteed, Adam needed to win big and he did exactly that with his Jobstown BC coach Amanda Spencer claiming that he “boxed the best he’s ever boxed”.
Utilising the jab and his rapid movement, Adam once again outworked his opponent, but this time in a much more commanding performance to take the gold medal, with all five judges giving the three rounds to him.
“We are coaching Adam since he’s seven years of age and to see him at 13 years of age win this for him, the country and the club – we are the proudest,” said Spencer upon Adam’s return to Ireland on Monday, where the club threw him a party outside of Jobstown BC to celebrate his achievement.
Adam is now a county, national and European champion in his division.
Ireland finished fifth in the medals table at the 30-nation tournament with two gold, six silver and 10 bronze, with Drimnagh BC’s Georgia Dunne McGovern boxing to silver, and both St Mary’s BC boxer Laurence Connors and Whitechurch’s Gabrielle Mongan seizing bronze in their respective weight divisions.
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