Sure, the silver medals that sisters Aoife and Lisa O’Rourke claimed at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships were ultimately not what they wanted, but this remained a memorable night for Irish boxing – and one Roscommon family.
The sisters from Tarmon put up spirited displays in their respective bouts at the Cair Sports Centre in Nis, Serbia, with Aoife beaten 5-0 by Russia’s Anastasiia Shamonova in the 75kg final and younger sister Lisa losing 5-0 to Elena Gapeshina in the 70kg final, each earning $50,000 (€46,000) in prize money.
The contests were tighter than the final tallies suggested, but in a sport with a subjective, shady scoring system, neither Irish boxer could have major complaints about the verdicts,…