Steven Donnelly (born 7 September 1988) is an Irish professional boxer from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who represented Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil as an amateur.

Boxing career

Donnelly represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, 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. 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. 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. At the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, 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. In his semifinal Donnelly was beaten on a split judge's decision by India’s

Mandeep Jangra Mandeep Jangra (born 19 May 1993) is former Indian amateur boxer and current professional. He won the silver medal at the 2013 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in the welterweight category. He represented India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games ...

, meaning he finished with a bronze medal. Donnelly took part in the 2015

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

, representing the Polish Hussars team. 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 Gabriel José Maestre Pérez (born 22 July 1986) is a Venezuelan professional boxer. As an amateur he competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, whilst also winning medals at the 2013 World Championships and the 2015 and 2019 Pan America ...

and suffered a walkover defeat after visa issues meant he was unable to travel to fight Azerbaijan's

Parviz Baghirov Parviz Baghirov (born 10 February 1994) is an Azerbaijani boxer. He competed in the men's welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 ...

. Donnelly qualified to represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the men's welterweight event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

to be held in

, Brazil, via his fourth-place ranking in the World Series of Boxing. 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 Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

secured his place through the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and

Andrey Zamkovoy Andrey Viktorovoich Zamkovoy ( rus, Андрей Викторович Замковой, , ɐnˈdrʲeɪ̯ zəmkɐˈvoɪ̯; born 4 July 1987) is a Russian amateur boxer, best known for winning gold at the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships. Care ...

won the Russian championships to confirm his place.

Professional boxing record

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England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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Ulster Hall The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences. History ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

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Titanic Exhibition Centre ''Titanic'' Belfast is a visitor attraction opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS ''Titanic'' was built. It tells the stories o ...

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Arena Birmingham Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

Personal life

Donnelly was born in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Steven Living people 1988 births Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Northern Ireland Irish male boxers Male boxers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Ballymena Olympic boxers for Ireland Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Middleweight boxers Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Boxers from County Antrim