Ray Moylette just three fights from Olympics

Ray Moylette is in action at the AIBA World Men’s Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday.?Pic: Sportsfile

Moylette three fights away from Olympics


Islandeady boxer opens World Championship campaign against Latvian opponent

Edwin McGreal

MAYO’S Ray Moylette is just three fights away from realising his Olympic dream.
The St Anne’s boxer gets his World Championship campaign under way in Azerbaijan this Friday and Sunday’s draw in the capital city Baku sees Moylette enter at the ‘Last 64’ stage. Three wins will put him into the quarter-finals and secure his spot for London 2012.
The European Light Welterweight champion has been drawn against Latvian Arturs Ahmetovs. The Islandeady man is seeded fourth for the tournament, meaning he cannot meet any of the other eight seeded boxers before the quarter-final stage.
But Moylette, who secured his place in the Worlds courtesy of defeating Ross Hickey in the controversial box-off earlier this month, is refusing to look beyond his first contest.
“I’m only taking it one fight at a time,” he told The Mayo News from the Irish team camp on the shores of the Caspian Sea yesterday (Monday) morning.
“I don’t even know who would be ahead of me in the next round because it’s dangerous to take your eye of the job in hand.
“I’ve forgotten about the rest of the fights, I’m focussed completely on Friday and I can’t wait for it to get started now. The first fight is often the worst because you are just waiting and waiting to get going.”
The Irish team of ten boxers arrived in Azerbaijan last Wednesday after a ten-day training camp in Germany. While he had difficulties with his weight and a hand injury in the lead-up to the Hickey box-off, Moylette is much more confident in both regards now.
“I’ve managed to keep the weight down since the box-off and, while I haven’t been doing much on the pads or the bags with the hand, I have been sparring with it and it’ll be fine for Friday.”
Among Moylette’s potential opponents before the quarter-finals are only two boxers ranked in the AIBA World Rankings released recently.
Should Moylette defeat Ahmetovs on Friday he could face 25th ranked Valentino Knowles from the Bahamas in the ‘Last 32’ while 51st ranked Qing Hu from China is a potential ‘Last 16’ opponent. Should he progress to the quarter-finals, a potential rematch with England’s Thomas Stalker, whom he defeated in June’s European final, is on the cards.