Barnes Beaten in Light-Flyweight Final

Belfast boxer Paddy Barnes will have to be content with a second Olympic bronze after suffering an agonising defeat by China's defending champion Zou Shiming in the light-flyweight semi-finals.

The judges scored the contest 15-15 after three rounds but Zou was given the verdict on countback.

Trailing 11-8 after two rounds, Barnes produced a huge effort in the third and appeared to have done enough to win.

Ireland's John Joe Nevin has qualified for the bantamweight final.

Mullingar man Nevin produced a classy performance to beat Cuba's world champion Lazaro Alvarez Estrada 19-14 in the bantamweight semi-finals to set up a gold medal contest with Britain's Luke Campbell.

Twice world bronze medalist Nevin won the first round 5-3 and he bossed the remaining two rounds to complete a 19-14 victory.

"I just believed I could beat the best in the world. The script was already written but I've re-written it," said Nevin after his win.

Barnes' contest was a far closer affair and the countback margin couldn't have been tighter with Zou edging it 45-44.

Irish team member Barnes, 25, was beaten 15-0 by the Chinese fighter at the same stage in the Beijing Olympics four years ago.

But the Belfast man was a different proposition four years on as befitting his status as the first Irish boxer to have won two Olympic medals.

"I gave it my all. I went in there and threw everything at him but he is so, so tricky," said a disappointed but gracious Barnes.

"And once I had him pinned down and was opening up, he's so smart and just picks you off and moves."

Barnes trailed 8-5 after the first round and the Belfast man felt that the opening three minutes ultimately cost him the fight.

"If I hadn't started so slowly, I would have won the fight."

Many observers felt Barnes' last-round rally might have been enough to edge the contest and the Irishman thought he had won the bout when it was announced that a countback verdict had been arrived at.

“Last year, I had one fight in the World Championship and lost. I thought I was going nowhere”Paddy Barnes

"I thought I had it because I threw more punches than him.

"Hopefully, he will be retired in four years time. I don't want to see that man again."

Before leaving the ring, Barnes had playfully pretended to strangle his Chinese foe and Zou responded by holding the Irishman's arm aloft.

"Last year, I had one fight in the World Championship and lost. I thought I was going nowhere," added Barnes.

"To go from that to lose to a three-time world champion and Olympic champion on countback. I'm happy."

Belfast Barnes Makes London

Belfast light-flyweight Paddy Barnes got over both some pre-fight nerves and having the wind knocked out of him in the opening round of his Olympic qualifier in Turkey this afternoon to become the fourth Irish fighter to qualify for this summer’s London Games.

The 25-year-old beat Romania’s Stefan Caslarov 17-9 in his three-round bout in Trabzon to make the semi-finals in the 49kg class and guarantee one of the four slots available in the weight division.

The Holy Family boxer, who won bronze four years’ ago in Beijing, admitted afterwards that nerves and a body blow from his opponent in the opening round were the main obstacles in his way.

“I was very, very nervous because I knew what was at stake and I think it showed in my performance a bit,” said Barnes. “I was a bit edgy, a bit nervous; I was throwing a few silly shots because I knew I was better than the guy.

“In the first round he came out and slipped me a body shot. I tell you what, I couldn’t even breathe. I sucked it up and I think I hurt him with my own shots and he backed off a bit,” added Barnes, who led 5-3 after the opening round.

He stepped it up in the second round to ensure Caslarov had no way back into the contest, winning the round 7-3 and extending his lead to six points. The Romanian fighter looked to be struggling going into the final round and Barnes took it 5-3 for a comprehensive 17-9 victory.

“I should have pressed on and stopped him but I was just happy with the win. Once I knew I was up on points I was playing safe,” admitted Barnes before stating his ambitions for this summer in London.

“Hopefully another medal of a better colour. I’m the European and Commonwealth champion. Hopefully I can be Olympic champion this year too.”

Barnes will now fight Turkey’s Ferhat Pehlivan in Fridays’s semi-finals.

Earlier, Adam Nolan maintained his hopes of a place at London 2012 with a superb 17-13 victory over Tamerian Abdullayez. The Bray Garda produced an excellent final round in a closely fought contest to earn a place in the semi-finals.

He needs to win his next bout on Friday to secure one of the two places available in the welterweight (64kg) category. Nolan, from Wexford, led 6-3 after the opening round but his Azerbaijani opponent demonstrated his mettle to win the second 8-6 and leave the Irishman just a single point ahead, 12-11, going into the final three minutes.

The Irishman, fighting in his first major international tournament, kept his composure to win the third and last round, 5-2 and earn his place in the semi-finals. There he will face Romanian Gheorghe Ionut and the Irishman will be grateful that he has avoided local Turkish fighter Koroglu Abdulkadir; the latter will fight German Wojcicki Patrick in the other semi-final.

Nolan admitted: "I took my foot off the gas a bit in the second round and my corner told me that I was only a point up going into the last round. It was do or die at that stage. I worked hard in the first half a minute and got my lead back up to three or four points. I'm just happy to get the win. I improved on the last day and will have to do that again in the semi-final."

The news wasn’t as good for David Oliver Joyce as his bid for a place at the London Olympics came to a disappointing end when he was outpointed 19-10 by Lithuania’s Evaldas Petrauskas at the quarter-final stage.

The St Michael’s, Athy man needed to win his bout to guarantee a place in the Olympics but was well aware of the magnitude of the task having sparred against Petrauskas in the past. He described the Lithuanian as physical and that certainly appeared to be the case as Petrauskas dominated the first two rounds opening up a 7-3 advantage after three minutes and then extending that to 13-6 by the end of the second round.

It meant that Joyce had little choice but to chase after his opponent in the final three minutes but the Lithuanian proved his mettle by outpointing the Irish boxer 6-4 for a comprehensive victory

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