Great Britain won three gold medals at the European Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy, but at the Commonwealth Games, it was a Northern Ireland boxer who delivered one of the day's most compelling finishes. Jon McConnell claimed gold in the men's light-middleweight division, beating Wales' Orlando Holley-Sotomi by split decision at the SEC Centre on Friday.
According to BBC Sport, it was McConnell's first Commonwealth Games appearance. He turned down an offer to appear on the television show Love Island to compete, and he made the most of the opportunity.
The fight was not clean. Holley-Sotomi rocked McConnell with a couple of big left hands in the opening round, putting the Northern Irishman under early pressure. McConnell steadied himself between rounds and came back to take the second, helped by a point deduction against Holley-Sotomi for hitting the back of his opponent's head. The third round was physical again, but McConnell landed the harder punches late and took the decision. Four of the five judges scored the bout in his favor, two at 30-26 and two at 29-27. The fifth judge gave it 29-27 to Holley-Sotomi.
"It doesn't feel real at the minute. I said I was going to do it and I've done it," McConnell told TNT Sports afterward.
He described the matchup in straightforward terms. "We knew he was strong. The game plan was to out-box him. He caught me in the first round and I got my scores more in the second round. He's big and he's strong, fair play to him. It was the matador against the bull, and the matador won today."
The gold was Team Northern Ireland's second of the Games. Kate O'Connor won the heptathlon on Wednesday. McConnell's win came on a day when two of his teammates fell just short in their own finals.
Michaela Walsh, 33, lost her women's final by unanimous decision to Jaismine. Three judges scored the fight 29-28 and two scored it 30-27, all in Jaismine's favor. Walsh made a slow start, lost the first round on the majority of scorecards, and despite going all out for a stoppage in the third, could not close the gap. The defeat leaves her with a third Commonwealth Games silver, having also finished second in 2014 and 2018. She won gold in Birmingham in 2022. Walsh now holds four Commonwealth Games medals overall, placing her among a small group of Northern Ireland athletes to reach that total. Only shooter David Calvert has won more, with eight medals, four of them gold.
Kaci Rock, 23, competing at her first Games, lost to England's Sacha Hickey by unanimous decision. Four judges scored the fight 30-27 and one 29-28, all for Hickey. Rock competed in an entertaining bout but Hickey controlled the first two rounds and pushed on in the third to take a comfortable victory. Rock leaves with a silver medal, Team Northern Ireland's fourth of the Games.
The three boxing results left Northern Ireland with one gold and two silvers from the day's finals, with McConnell's win standing as the decisive moment in what had otherwise been a day of near-misses for the team.
