Irish Olympic silver medallist John Joe Nevin has suffered a setback to his professional career after he was assaulted at the weekend. Nevin (24), who won an Olympic boxing medal in 2012, had his leg broken in two places during an altercation in his hometown of Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
He has been receiving messages of support via Twitter from fans and leading Irish sporting figures such as boxers Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Wayne McCullough, Barry McGuigan and Sonia O’Sullivan.
The assault comes less than a month after Nevin's first professional bout, when he beat Puerto Rican Alberto Candelaria on St Patrick's Day in Boston.
It is understood Nevin was attacked with a golf club and stick at a house in Mullingar on Saturday morning. Gardaí were called to the scene of a disturbance outside a house at Ardleigh Crescent at 11.30am. Nevin was taken to hospital in Mullingar along with another man and a woman, both in their 20s. Nevin, who signed with GreenBlood Boxing last year, was later transferred to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, where it is understood he underwent surgery.
A statement posted on GreenBlood Boxing’s Facebook page said: “John Joe Nevin will be out of action for several months after being attacked in a Saturday morning incident in which he broke his leg in two places.”
According to the statement, the boxer is “gutted” that his professional career “has been slowed” but he has vowed to come back stronger. It claimed the boxer had been acting as a “peacemaker” between a number of individuals when he sustained the injury. “Doctors told Nevin he would be out for two or three months before he could start rehabilitation on the leg,” the statement added.
GreenBlood Boxing's Tom Moran said: "Our schedule has been thrown off by a few months but hopefully we'll have John Joe back working hard by mid-summer and have him fighting again stateside in September.
“We were hoping to get John Joe headlining a card in Ireland in the fall,” he added, “but we may have to push that back some now because the big push is making him a major attraction in the Irish-American audience. We have talks about New York, Boston and Philadelphia fights.”
A 21-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident on Saturday afternoon. He was released without charge late on Saturday night and a file will be prepared for the DPP, gardaí confirmed.