John Joseph Nevin (born 7 June 1989, is an Irish

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is a two-time Olympian, and a

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

silver medalist.

Early life

John Joseph Nevin was born in

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, and is a member of the Traveller community.

Amateur career

2008 , Olympic Games qualifying tournament

Nevin qualified for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

by winning the first Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

2008 , European Union Amateur Championships

Nevin won the 2008 EU Amateur Championships in Cetniewo,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

2008 , Olympic Games

At just 18 years of age, Nevin competed in

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at his first

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. He beat Abdelhalim Ourradi 9–4 in his first round before being beaten by Badar-Uugan Enkhbatyn 9–2 in the round of 16. Enkhbatyn went on to win gold in the final.

2009 , World Amateur Championships

On 9 September 2009, Nevin guaranteed Ireland a historic sixth medal at the

2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Milan, Italy, from September 1, 2009 to September 12, 2009, in the Mediolanum Forum. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition was under the supervision of the ...

after he beat China's Yu Gu in Milan. He won his quarter-final 7–5. In the semi-final he lost by 5–4 to Russian Eduard Abzalimov, and so took away a bronze medal.

2011 , World Amateur Championships

At the 2011 World Boxing Championships in

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, Nevin reached the semi-finals after beating Orzubek Shaymov of Uzbekistan 19–17 in the quarter's. Nevin lost to Britain's Luke Campbell in the semi's through a very controversial countback, forcing him to settle for a second World Championship bronze medal. This however was more than enough to qualify Nevin for the 2012 London Olympics.

2012 , Olympic Games

Nevin won his first fight in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, defeating Denmark's

Dennis Ceylan Dennis Ceylan (born 3 March 1989, Høje Tåstrup, Denmark) is a Danish professional boxer. He was born in Høje Taastrup, but grew up in Aarhus and is a member of boxing club BK Aarhus. Ceylan is a former EBU European featherweight champion. As ...

by a wide margin of 21–6. In his second fight of the games he saw off Kazakhstan's

Kanat Abutalipov Kanat Kalizhanovich Abutalipov (; born March 22, 1983, in Barshino) is a Kazakhstani boxer who competed at the 2008 Olympics at bantamweight but lost his only fight to eventual silver medallist Yankiel León (3:10) from Cuba. At the World Ch ...

by a margin of 15–10. In his quarter-final bout he beat Oscar Valdez to secure a semi-final place and the guarantee of at least a bronze medal. He reached the final after defeating the reigning bantamweight world champion Lázaro Álvarez of Cuba, 19–14. In the final however, Nevin lost 14–11 to Britain's Luke Campbell, winning a silver medal in the process. Nevin reportedly said that he wants his legacy from the Games to be "a closer relationship between Travellers and the settled community."

2013: European Amateur Championships

In June 2013 he won a gold medal at the 2013 European Amateur Boxing Championships in the Bantamweight division.

National Titles

In 2012, Nevin won his fifth straight national senior title, incidentally beating his cousin Michael Nevin 23-3 in the final. Nevin was unable to defend his national title in 2013 because he injured his wrist while sparring in the high performance, the title was taken by Declan Geraghty from Crumlin boxing club. That didn't stop the Irish Amateur Boxing Association from picking Nevin as their #1 choice for the 2013 European Boxing Championships being held in Minsk later that year.

Professional career

Having announced the previous year that he planned on turning professional, Nevin finally did so in 2013. Speaking on 22 October, he said "This is the next step for me. I've done everything I wanted to do in the amateur business, if I could change the colour of the Olympic medal I would but that's done and now it's time to move on and hopefully bring back a world title to Ireland." Nevin signed a management deal with a business sports partnership that includes GreenBlood Boxing from Philadelphia and Berkley Sports & Media from London. Nevin made his professional debut in a

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

bout on 17 March 2014 against Alberto Candelaria, winning by unanimous decision.

Personal life

He is married with three children.

Controversy

Nevin has frequently attracted controversy through his involvement in several high profile public order incidents. In 2013, Nevin was arrested and charged following a drunken altercation with his father in a public street in Mullingar.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

World Juniors 2006
at amateur-boxing.strefa.pl

at amateur-boxing.strefa.pl * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevin, John Joe 1988 births Living people AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Bantamweight boxers Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Irish male boxers Irish Traveller sportspeople Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Ireland Olympic medalists in boxing Olympic silver medalists for Ireland Sportspeople from Mullingar Boxers from County Westmeath People educated at Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar 21st-century Irish sportsmen