Steven set for Commonwealth Games call-up

The 22-year-old effectively rubber-stamped his seat on the plane to India by winning the light-welterweight category of the Northern Ireland Open Tournament - the unofficial 'qualifying' event - at the Donegal Celtic clubrooms last week.

The All Saints clubman - widely acclaimed as THE outstanding Ulster boxer at 64kg - was an overwhelming favourite and lived up to his billing by comfortable outscoring Holy Family's James Upton by 10-2.

"I believe that even if Steven hadn't won in these championships, he would still have been selected because he's the outstanding candidate in his category," Dermot Hamill, one of the members of Donnelly's coaching team, told Times Sport, ahead of the official announcement last night (Monday).

"We didn't want to take any chances, though, so we put Steven forward and he again demonstrated his quality.

"He was in control from the first bell to the last and he just boxed a nice, calm fight - he never got excited.

"Even when Upton came at him, the work that Gerry Hamill has done with Steven on defence worked for him and Steven could have stopped him in the last round, where Upton had two standing counts.

"We want to give Steven a couple of weeks off now because he has given up a lot to take part in those championships, so that he could fulfil his dream of competing in the Commonwealth Games.

"He had booked and paid for a holiday to Ibiza with his mates before the championships were ever arranged but his thinking was that Ibiza will still be there next year but the Commonwealth Games only come around every four years."

"It's a massive step up but Steven will already be well-known because he won the Arafura Games in Australia a couple of years ago, when he was also named Boxer of the Tournament.

"In my mind, he can compete with the best that the likes of England, Canada and Australia have.

"The danger might come from some of the African nations who might not be as skilful or technical but they just keep coming at you and at you, but I think Steven has a very realistic chance of coming back with a medal," added Dermot.