Paris via Milan. That is the journey Kiaran Macdonald has planned in 2024.
Like all journeys it has to start somewhere and that somewhere is Sheffield.
Macdonald is taking part in the World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024 which is a tune up for the Olympic qualifier in Italy from March 11-14.
The 26-year-old, a Commonwealth Games silver medalist in 2022 in Birmingham, missed out on qualification at the European Games last year when only the two finalists at flyweight booked tickets to the XXXIII Olympiad – or the Olympic Games to me and you.
Macdonald is feeling quietly confident he will join the party in the French capital.
“Absolutely,” the southpaw told punch-lines on the eve of the international tournament in Sheffield.
“I should qualify. I have plenty of experience and I’ve proven over the last couple of years that I’m one of the best boxers in this division.
“We are coming into the business end of the qualification process and I’m fully focused on getting qualified and then moving on from there.
“The qualifier in Milan is coming up soon and there is another I think in May, but I’ll be looking to get the job done in Italy.”
Winning the World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024 would be a confidence booster for the gifted southpaw, from Sunderland ABC, but not the be-all and end-all for him.
He needs to be peaking in 190 days or so, not at the English Institute of Sport, not that it means he won’t be taking this week seriously.
“There should be three contests for me here and hopefully that will be me in a good position to qualify for Paris,” said Kiaran who opens his campaign on Thursday morning against Scott Richards, from Wales.
“This competition is very early in the year, so it’s probably about getting the Christmas dust off and then moving on to Milan.”
Macdonald is likely to cross swords with a familiar foe in Sheffield – Salah Ibrahim of Germany.
The pair have collided three times over the last 12 months with Kiaran 2-1 up in the series.
He beat him in the GeeBee final in Finland last April, before defeating him in the last 16 at the European Games in Poland in the summer, only for his rival to take some revenge in the Tammer Tournament final in Finland at the end of November.
“We are probably two of the best in the category in the new organisation running boxing so it’s probably no surprise we come up against each other a bit,” he said.
“I thought I’d done enough in the Tammer. It was nip and tuck as you’d probably expect between two counter-punchers and I ended up losing on a split.
“It’s one of them where, on a different day I probably would have got it.”
Words: Roy Kelly
