Castlerea boxer Aoife O’Rourke is on her way to the Tokyo Olympics following an impressive win over Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik this evening in a qualification bout at the Grand Dome in Paris.
The Polish fighter enjoyed the best of the early proceedings of what was a rematch of the 2019 European Championship Final. The opening round went the way of Wojcik with all five judges scoring it 10-9.
O’Rourke grew in confidence as the bout went on, however, and upped the tempo in round two putting Wojcik on the back foot. The round was scored in favour of the Roscommon boxer despite an impressive combo from her opponent which hinted at the danger she still posed.
Round three was O’Rourke’s best as her energy levels and aggression proved too much for Wojcik. The Pole was given a standing count after being worn down by the Castlerea woman’s body work and crisp right hooks.
In the end, four of the judges called it 30-27 in favour of O’Rourke while the remaining card had it 30-26, meaning she has secured one of four qualification slots for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
O’Rourke is back in the ring tomorrow against the impressive Welsh fighter and current world champion, Lauren Price, who was devastating in her unanimous win over Ukrainian Anastasia Chernokolenko.
