Steven Donnelly

Steven Donnelly
Born (1988-09-07) 7 September 1988 (age 36)
Ballymena, Northern Ireland
NationalityRepublic of Ireland Irish
Statistics
Weight(s)Light-Middleweight
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
StanceOrthodox
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow Welterweight
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast Middleweight

Steven Donnelly (born 7 September 1988) is an Irish professional boxer from Northern Ireland who represented Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as an amateur.

Boxing career

Donnelly represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, India. Competing in the light welterweight division he faced Australian Luke Woods in the first round and was eliminated from the competition after a 0–10 loss.[1][2] Following his defeat Donnelly was subsequently sent home from the Games by team management after drinking alcohol and causing a disturbance in the athlete's village.[1] After this he became disillusioned with the sport and quit boxing for two years before eventually returning to the All Saints Boxing Club in Ballymena.[2]

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland, Donnelly was again selected for the Northern Ireland team. Competing in the welterweight division he defeated Hasan Asif of Pakistan in the round of 32, Oscar Finau of Tonga in the round of 16 and Canadian Custio Clayton in the quarterfinals.[3] In his semifinal Donnelly was beaten on a split judge's decision by India’s Mandeep Jangra, meaning he finished with a bronze medal.[4]

Donnelly took part in the 2015 World Series of Boxing, representing the Polish Hussars team.[5] He won five of his six fights, beating Kazakhstan's Madiyar Ashkeyev, Brian Ceballo of the United States, Puerto Rican Nicklaus Flaz Guillen, Alberto Palmetta of Argentina and Italy's Dario Morello, but was defeated by Venezuelan Gabriel Maestre and suffered a walkover defeat after visa issues meant he was unable to travel to fight Azerbaijan's Parviz Baghirov.[5][6][7]

Donnelly qualified to represent Ireland in the men's welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, via his fourth-place ranking in the World Series of Boxing.[8] Only the top two ranked athletes were due to qualify through the rankings but two of the athletes ranked ahead of him qualified by alternate methods, Morocco’s Mohammad Rabii secured his place through the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and Andrey Zamkovoy won the Russian championships to confirm his place.[8][7]

Professional boxing record

Win 9-0 Czech Republic Pavel Albrecht TKO 3 (6) 2020-03-07 United Kingdom Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England
Win 8-0 United Kingdom Lenny Fuller TKO 2 (3) 2019-09-20 United Kingdom Indigo at the O2, Greenwich, England Ultimate Boxxer Final
Win 7-0 United Kingdom Sean Robinson UD 3 2019-09-20 United Kingdom Indigo at the O2, Greenwich, England Ultimate Boxxer Semi-finals
Win 6-0 United Kingdom Ish O'Connor TKO 1 (3) 2019-09-20 United Kingdom Indigo at the O2, Greenwich, England Ultimate Boxxer Quarterfinals
Win 5-0 Nicaragua Edwin Palacios KO 4 (6) 2019-05-17 United Kingdom Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland Left hook to the body
Win 4–0 United States Ray Cervera UD 4 2018-10-27 United States Madison Square Garden, New York, United States
Win 3–0 Lithuania Aryvdas Trizno PTS 4 2018-10-05 United Kingdom Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win 2–0 Nicaragua Miguel Aguilar PTS 4 2018-09-08 United Kingdom Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, England
Win 1–0 United Kingdom Kevin McCauley PTS 4 2018-08-18 United Kingdom Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Professional debut.

Personal life

Donnelly was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Boxer Donnelly fighting back after personal setbacks". Ballymena Times. 18 January 2013. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b Beacom, Steven (1 August 2014). "Donnelly has already made up for Delhi misery, but now he wants gold". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Steven Donnelly Biography". Official Website of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Bronze for Donnelly after semi-final defeat". Ballymena Times. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b McGoldrick, Sean (2 December 2015). "Steven Donnelly becomes fourth Irish boxer to qualify for Rio Olympics". Independent (Ireland). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Welter Donnelly Steven". World Series of Boxing. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b Loughran, Neil (20 November 2015). "Demotivated Steven Donnelly considers boxing future". The Irish News. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Welterweight Steven Donnelly qualifies for Rio 2016 Olympics". BBC Sport. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2016.