He came into Rio the long way round but Steven Donnelly is right on track for an Olympic medal.
The Ballymena boxer won a split decision over Tuvshinbat Byamba, this afternoon, and is now one win away from a medal.
Steven Donnelly lays it all on the line to give Ireland a boxer we can believe in https://t.co/9DwfrfJEWH
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 11, 2016
Up next for Donnelly is a last eight bout with the toughest man in the draw – Morocco’s world champion Mohammed Rabii – but he is just getting started.
In his post-fight interview with RTE, Donnelly spoke about his opening two triumphs in Rio and looked ahead to the biggest fight of his life, so far.
“It was a really tough fight but I knew he would be. We checked his style before this and he comes forward quite a good bit. He’s a heavy hitter. I knew it would be messy but I stuck to the plan, what these lads [coaches] said… there were times that I got dragged into a bit of a fight but you have to do that sometimes.”
“I’m flying now. I’m starting to feel really good.”
Donnelly believes ‘anything is possible’ now that a medal is within sight. He declared:
“The dream is still alive. When I was in Russia and 48 kilos – the same weight as Paddy Barnes – [Paddy] says to me, ‘One day you’ll be Olympic champion’.
“Here I am now at 69 kilos and I’m in the Olympic quarter final… [Rabii] is a classy operator but I believe in myself and I’m going to give it everything.
“We’re not called the fighting Irish for no reason.”
We’re happy to get on board this optimism train.
