Ireland will take home at least four medals from the European Elite Boxing Championships in Sofia, with Aoife and Lisa O’Rourke both through to gold-medal bouts, Michaela Walsh guaranteed at least bronze and Jon McConnell completing his campaign with bronze.
Wednesday proved the strongest day of the championships so far for the Irish team, producing two finalists and another confirmed medallist.
Aoife O’Rourke moved one victory away from a fourth European Elite title with an impressive semi-final win over 2025 world champion Saltanat Medenova of Russia.
The 75kg contest went 4-1 to O’Rourke, with four judges scoring all three rounds in her favour. She will now face Turkey’s Busra Isildar, a multiple World and European medallist, in Friday’s final.
Her younger sister Lisa O’Rourke followed her into a European final with an emphatic performance against Ukraine’s Iryna Lutsak.
O’Rourke won 5-0, every judge returning a 30-27 card, to set up a major 80kg final against 2023 world champion Anastasiia Demurchian of Russia this afternoon.
It represents another great championship performance from the 24-year-old, who was World Champion in 2022 and took World Championship silver in 2025.
Walsh Adds Fourth Irish Medal
Michaela Walsh ensured Ireland would have a fourth boxer on the European podium after defeating home favourite Stanimira Petrova in Wednesday’s 57kg quarter-final.
The double Olympian was behind on four cards after the opening round but turned the contest around emphatically, eventually taking a unanimous 5-0 decision against the three-time Bulgarian Olympian.
Walsh now faces Hungary’s Kukhta Vlagyszlava, a World Boxing Cup Brazil silver medallist, in today’s semi-final.
That bout is scheduled for 4:15pm Irish time, followed half an hour later by Lisa O’Rourke’s European final at approximately 4:45pm. Both will be shown live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage beginning at 4:13pm.
Victory for Walsh would put her into the 57kg gold-medal bout during the concluding programme on Friday.
Bronze for McConnell
There was disappointment but also a European bronze medal for Jon McConnell, whose excellent run at 70kg ended at the semi-final stage.
The Commonwealth Games champion lost 4-1 to Azerbaijan’s Nabi Isgandarov after a competitive contest. McConnell leaves Sofia having beaten Turkey’s Necat Ekinci, Poland’s Damian Durkacz and Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani on his route to the podium.
Jude Gallagher also bowed out on Wednesday, losing a particularly tight 3-2 quarter-final decision to Spain’s Ewart Andres Marin Hernandez at 60kg.
Gallagher had enjoyed an impressive championship, defeating Maksym Bocarov of Slovakia before producing a comeback stoppage victory over France’s Lounes Hamraoui.
Ireland’s Remaining Programme
The Irish focus today is entirely on Walsh and Lisa O’Rourke: Walsh v Vlagyszlava at approximately 4:15pm, followed by Lisa O’Rourke v Demurchian for European gold at approximately 4:45pm.
On Friday, Aoife O’Rourke will face Busra Isildar for the 75kg title and an opportunity to secure a remarkable fourth European Elite gold medal. A Walsh victory today would add a second Irish contest to Friday’s final programme.
Sport for Business Perspective
Whatever happens over the closing two days, Ireland is already guaranteed at least two silver medals and two bronzes, a substantial return from one of the first major European championships under the new European Boxing and World Boxing structure.
Sofia is also a World Boxing ranking event, with 800 ranking points available to champions, 500 to silver medallists and 300 to bronze medallists as the international pathway begins to take shape towards Los Angeles 2028.
The decision to put today’s two Irish contests live on RTÉ2 also gives the championship significantly greater domestic visibility at the point when the medals are being decided.
For now, Ireland has four medals secured, two boxers already in European finals and another fighting today for the opportunity to join them. Good job!
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Image Credit: Boxing Ireland
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