O’Rourke strikes gold in Poland
18 May 2022; Lisa O'Rourke of Ireland celebrates victory over Sema Caliskan of Turkey in their Light Middleweight 70kg semi-final bout during the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships 2022 at the Basaksehir Sports Complex in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by IBA via Sportsfile
World boxing champion Lisa O’Rourke struck gold in her comeback tournament in Poland on Saturday evening.
The Tarmon native beat Grainne Walsh in an All-Irish final in the welterweight (66kgs) category at the Leszek Drogosz Memorial tournament on a split decision, 2-1.
O’Rourke hasn’t boxed competitively since winning her infamous world boxing title in May 2022, having struggled with a thumb injury since then.
She still harbours hope of joining her sister at next year’s Paris Olympics, and Saturday evening’s victory is seen as a step along the way to realising that goal ahead of the Olympic qualifiers early next year.
