IRISH hopes rested on the broad shoulders of heavyweight sensation Jack Marley – and the Dubliner didn’t disappoint as he bulldozed into the last eight at the North Paris Arena last night.
Having watched team-mates Dean Clancy, Aidan Walsh and Grainne Walsh fall at the first hurdle in the opening two days of the competition, Irish morale could not afford a fourth defeat when the team’s youngest member took to the ring.
But, rather than being cowed by the pressure, he stormed out of the blocks and flew at Polish opponent Mateusz Bereznicki – a man he had faced, and beaten, once before, claiming victory at the European U22 Championships three years ago.
And Marley barely allowed his pace to drop on the way to a 4-1 split decision win that sends him into a quarter-final showdown with Tajikistan’s second seed Davlat Boltaev on Thursday evening.
Mopping sweat from his brow, Irish head coach Zaur Antia cut a relieved figure as he made his way through the mixed zone.
“Saved us today,” he smiled on the way past reporters, just as Marley was taking a minute to throw up into a cardboard bin before coming over for comment.
The stresses and strains of watching Aidan and Grainne Walsh exit earlier turned up the heat on the 21-year-old coming into the arena but, if there were nerves, they were well hidden.
Storming into the centre of the ring, Marley ate a couple of stiff left hooks from Bereznicki before settling into a rhythm, applying a pressure the Pole could never quite come to terms with – the Dub walking through everything that came his way, and there was a fair bit.
“It was my Olympic debut - I knew I needed to start as I mean to go on, and that’s what I done.
“He’s actually a different fighter from when I fought him last. He was a lot more on the back foot this time. Last time he was trying to meet me and stuff.
“He was doing a lot more boxing, he was using his distance and stuff which was hard because every step I take he was taking two back. I just had that extra bit of work, that’s why I upped the pace and it worked well for us.”
And some last minute words of wisdom worked a treat as Marley headed out to make his Olympic bow.
“I got told ‘have no regrets’ two minutes before I stepped into the ring, and I’ll always remember that.
“I tell you one thing, it wasn’t what I expected. I think I hyped it up a bit too much in myself. But I was cool as a cucumber going into that, and I thought I showed that.”
Victory leaves him one win away from a podium place, though Marley had another way of looking at it.
“I was one fight away this morning because if I lost I wasn’t getting anywhere near that podium.
“Each fight’s the same, it’s the same as an Olympic qualifier - if I lose, I’m out. Every fight is an Olympic qualifying fight.”
The travelling army of family and friends who came to cheer him on made their presence felt from the opening bell, and they are sure to be in the stands when he has an even later show – approximately 10.08pm – against the reigning Asian Games champion on Thursday night.
Not that stepping into the ropes late on is any kind of issue.
“I’m used to getting out of the National Stadium ring at 11.30, this is the f**king early shift,” he smiled.
“When you’re in there you can barely even hear your own coaches, so I was just focusing on what I had to do… I told everyone not to tell me. I’m as surprised as you are at seeing the people up there.
“I can celebrate with everyone when all of this is finished. Fair play to them for coming over, very appreciative of them.”
RUNNING ORDER
Monday, July 29
60kg last 16: K Harrington v A Mesiano (Italy) – 1.46pm
Tuesday, July 30
54kg last 16: J Lehane v Y Chang (China) – 10.36am
Wednesday, July 31
57kg last 32: J Gallagher v C Paalam (Phillipines) – 1.30pm
75kg last 16: A O’Rourke v E Wojcik (Poland) – 7.52pm
Thursday, August 1
51kg last 16: D Moorehouse v W Lkhadiri (France) – 6pm
92kg: J Marley v D Boltaev (Tajikistan) – 9.08pm
Friday, August 2
57kg last 16: M Walsh v SK Staneva (Bulgaria) – 1.46pm
