Kurt Walker grabbed a boxing gold medal for Ireland after a classy win over former world bronze medallist Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine.
Walker produced a composed performance to comprehensively beat his experienced opponent with a 5-0 unanimous verdict on the judges' cards.
“He was very tough, he’s been about. This was his third European final so he’s very experienced and he kept coming and coming, so I’m just glad I was able to fight through it. Two years ago in the European Championships, he beat me in the semis 5-0 and it just shows I’ve grown so much as a boxer and a man in the last two years
“The coaches need so much credit, the game plan it was unbelievable and I knew it was working. I came back after the first round and they were both buzzing and they’re never usually like that! You usually have to do more and more, but they were both buzzing and they said keep picking it up, and thankfully I did. It’s unbelievable – it was everything coming true. You have these dreams of it happening, but when it actually does happen you don’t know what to do, you just feel so happy it’s unbelievable.”
Walker's win ended a strong Irish boxing campaign with silver medals for Harrington and Michaela Walsh plus three bronzes to take their tally to six.
Harrington pulls out of final fight due to injury
Kellie Harrington is out of her lightweight boxing European Games Final in Minsk.
Harrington picked up a hand injury in her semi-final win over Sweden's Agnes Alexiusson, with the decision to pull her out of the decider being made this morning by team management.
The world champion will receive a silver medal by default, with Mira Potkonen of Finland taking gold.
An OFI statement reads:
"On the final day of the competition at the European Games a decision has been made to withdraw Kellie Harrington from her final fight in the Women’s Light -60kg today due to injury. Harrington sustained a hand injury in the semi-final bout with Agnes Alexiusson from Sweden, and she has been deemed unfit to box.
"Every attempt was made by the medical staff to manage the injury to her right thumb, to give Harrington an opportunity to compete, but this morning the decision was made that she would be withdrawn. Harrington will receive the silver medal in the Women’s Light -60kg today, and now all attention will be placed on Kurt Walker who is competing for the gold medal in the Men’s Bantam at 11.30 Irish time."
“It’s been a fantastic competition for Kellie,” commented Performance Director Bernard Dunne, “it’s unfortunate this injury has arisen, but the right decision has been made that she doesn’t compete. It is unfortunate that hand injuries are part and parcel of boxing, but we need to manage it the right way to ensure a quick return to action.
“Kellie has Europeans and Worlds before the year is out and upcoming Olympic qualification events that we are looking forward to. In making this decision we had to take in the big picture to ensure that we don’t further injure the hand. Our focus is now on Kurt.”
Harrington added, “I’m disappointed to not be competing but I understand that there’s a bigger picture to be taken into account. It would be too much of a risk to go in there and have another setback. I totally respect the advice of the medical staff and the decision of the Performance Director.
"While I’m disappointed, I’m still going to be there for Kurt my teammate, as captain. It’s been an honour to be captain of this boxing team, and I’m going to be cheering him on and I am can’t wait to watch our team collect their medals, and I will carry my silver medal with pride.
“I’m looking forward to getting home, recovering and getting back at it as soon as possible. We came out here having had a fantastic training camp and were excited about testing ourselves against the best in Europe blocks, and we did that. It’s been a fantastic competition for the Irish boxing team and I’m going to continue to trust the team that’s supporting me.”
