Mayo boxer Shannon Sweeney secures bronze medal at Euros and aims for more

Westport native Shannon Sweeney has delivered another massive performance at the European Championships in Belgrade this afternoon.

After defeating the Russian Galieva Geliusa yesterday, Sweeney dominated Spanish opponent Laura Fuertes Fernandez in the quarter-final today.

"Absolutely brilliant!" says her coach from St Anne's Boxing Club Martin Brennan: "They both came out for her but Shannon is a terrific counter puncher and her timing and accuracy was second to none. She stayed in the pocket longer and kept her calm. You can see her confidence is building as the competition goes on."

Sweeney's achievement already shines the brighter bearing in mind that she just recently changed her weight category which always is a huge challenge for a boxer.  

"Fuertes Fernandez started very strong today" explains Brennan: "I thought after the first minute this is gong to be difficult. But Shannon did not panic, settled into her style and boxed amazing. Every judge gave her every round."

Shannon is in the semi-final now and guaranteed a bronze medal to bring home to Mayo. She will fight her semi-final on Thursday. The bout can be watched on the Youtube channel of the European Boxing confederation.