{"id":714535,"date":"2026-07-28T01:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/714535\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T01:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:11:08","slug":"jon-mcconnell-chasing-commonwealth-games-treasure-after-rejecting-love-island-commonwealth-games-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/714535\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon McConnell chasing Commonwealth Games treasure after rejecting Love Island | Commonwealth Games 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before these Commonwealth Games<\/a>, Jon McConnell made headlines for turning down the 13th season of Love Island. Now the Northern Irishman is one win away from a medal after defeating India\u2019s Sumit Sumit to reach the 70kg quarter-finals in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect [the attention] at all,\u201d he said. \u201cSomeone sent me the interview [about Love Island auditions] and I was a wee bit shocked. I didn\u2019t even know I said half of it. It was after a sparring session and with the adrenaline I was just saying different stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I am just going along with it a bit; the lads were winding me up. But boxing comes first. Skills pay the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old had to dig deep against Sumit to secure a 4-1 victory after finding himself down early before producing a strong finish. \u201cI came from behind; from two rounds down basically,\u201d said McConnell, who had a point deducted. \u201cI am proud of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday, McConnell said the days leading up to his opening contest had tested his patience. \u201cIt was a long wait to be honest with you. It was really long. It has been a week. Every day felt the same: it was wake up, training, rest. It was getting a bit monotonous. This here is what I live for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, Namibia\u2019s Tryagain Morning Ndevelo also booked his place in the quarter-finals. Named after the lesson his mother instilled in him growing up, he has carried that philosophy into the ring, producing a unanimous points victory over Bangladesh\u2019s Md Ruhin Reza in the men\u2019s 60kg competition.<\/p>\n

After receiving a walkover in the opening round when Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s Anthony Joseph failed to make the call time, Ndevelo finally got the opportunity he had been craving to compete. On Sunday, Ndevelo had completed his ring walk through the smoke before discovering he was the only boxer inside the ropes. Joseph never answered the call to the ring, leaving the Namibian warming up alone before the opening bell sounded with just one fighter present.<\/p>\n

Tryagain Morning Ndevelo is through to the quarter-finals of the men\u2019s 60kg competition. Photograph: Fran\u00e7ois Nel\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

For a boxer chasing a breakthrough at his third Commonwealth Games, it was hardly ideal preparation. \u201cToday was nice,\u201d he said after his fight against Reza. \u201cI\u2019m glad that I got to go into the ring. Got to face somebody. I can see my level.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of hard work has gone into this. So at least I finally got a chance to practise what I have been learning. I was thinking: \u2018Am I really fine?\u2019 and \u2018Am I ready?\u2019 because I didn\u2019t get a taste. At least now I know. I don\u2019t feel tired. I have an extra level I can get to. I was excited to have him [Reza] at least show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, in Glasgow, he has the opportunity to take the next step, with his remarkable first name becoming one of the stories of these Games. \u201cMy mother is my whole world,\u201d he said. \u201c[Growing up], whenever I missed training or I was feeling down, I would be told: \u2018You don\u2019t have to miss training. Just show up. Even if you are not good, just show up.\u2019 She has always been behind me and that itself is the definition of my name.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day you wake up in the morning and you have the chance to do what you didn\u2019t do yesterday. That is why my middle name is Morning. Tuesday, Wednesday, whenever I fight again, I have the chance to better what I did here today. That\u2019s all from her, for giving me this name. Every time I feel low, I get up and try again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before these Commonwealth Games, Jon McConnell made headlines for turning down the 13th season of Love Island. Now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-714535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}