Light-heavyweight Kenneth Egan's pursuit of an Olympic gold medal ended in an 11-7 defeat to China's Zhang Xiaoping at the Workers' Gymnasium this morning. The eight-time national champion was looking to end Ireland's 16-year wait for a boxing gold but must be content with the silver after a slow start left him chasing the bout.
The Neilstown fighter was repeatedly caught by the Zhang's right-hand but, as has been evident throughout the tournament, there was some questionable scoring from the judges.
In the fourth and final round especially, when Egan was trailing by two, the Irishman was adjudged to have been tagged four times by his opponent, though a clean shot was difficult to pick out.
Ever the sportsman, however, Egan was gracious in defeat and not about to dwell on conspiracy theories, instead choosing to applaud his opponent, his fans, his team and his own achievement of securing Ireland's best result in the Games.
"I tried 100 per cent. He got the lead, a silly lead at the start of it. I was still asleep," said Egan. "I'm disgusted with myself for that. That's my only regret in the whole competition, the first round, but I gave it everything I had in the last three.
On his opponents seemingly soft points, he added: "I had that in the back of my head but I didn't let it affect my game. I just threw everything I had.
"He caught me with a couple of good shots, I caught him. Body shots as well that probably didn't score.
"But I'm not going to start making excuses. I've had a great campaign. I want to thank all the supporters here and at home. That's it, that's the end of the fairytale for now."
He continued: "I'm happy. I'm very, very happy. It would have been nice to take the gold. It's always the same, when you win something you want more.
"He boxed well himself, he had a hard draw himself. He done well and beat the Russian and Kazakh. You can't take it away from him. He done it there tonight.
"A silver medal will have to this time round."
In the four fights preceding this, Egan conceded just seven points and scored 50. This morning, he gave away 11 to his opponent and managed seven.
The Chinese fighter got the start he was looking for when he landed two right hands for an early lead in the first. Egan looked nervous and was clearly struggling to find his range.
He scored his first points in the second round with his trusty left but Zhang was responding in kind and a clean right brought the score to 5-3 heading into the third.
The pair traded two early points but Egan had found the centre of the ring and looked the more comfortable, though he didn't appear to get the reward his industry warranted and conceded another two.
Heading into the last the score was 7-5 and though Egan registered points, his opponent was both clever and fortunate, managing to keep his distance in the ring and on the scoresheet.
Egan dropped to his knees at the bell. His dream of emulating Michael Carruth had ended, but he and his team have been the silver lining to a cloudy Irish Olympic campaign. The three medals won at the Games all came in the ring.
Belfast's Paddy Barnes was on the podium this morning to receive his bronze medal in the light-flyweight division. After a some brilliant early displays he was comprehensively beaten in Friday's semi-final by Zou Shiming of China.
Navan's Darren Sutherland picked up his bronze yesterday for finishing third in the middleweight division. He lost to Briton James DeGale in his semi-final bout. It was Sutherland's last fight as an amateur as he moves on to a professional career.
