Women’s Lightweight (57-60kg) – Round of 16

Kellie Harrington (Ireland) v Rebecca Nicoli (Italy)

Harrington has had to wait a week but has finally done her first bout at Tokyo 2020 and looked as calm and collected as ever.

Ireland’s flag bearer was to face Italy’s 21-year-old boxer Nicoli in her first fight. The Irish fighter had a slight height and reach advantage over the Italian but also comes in as one of the favourites to claim a medal at these Games.

The first round went as expected, Harrington played her game by keeping her distance from her opponent, making strong combos and ducking out before the Italian could strike.

Harrington dominated the round and it was reflected in the judges scores with her unanimously winning.

The Irish woman slowed from her usual high tempo in the second round as Nicoli became more attacking. Instead, Harrington changed to using quick punches while keeping her head moving.

She adapted perfectly to the situation and won all the judges votes again in that round all but guaranteeing her place in the quarterfinals.

Round three and Harrington continued to show her class. She never seemed tired, barely breaking a sweat as she landed punch after punch on her opponent.

In one of the most dominant displays of any boxer so far at the Olympics, Harrington took a clean sweep of all the judges scores, winning the bout over Nicoli 5-0.

The Irish boxer will now face Algeria’s Imane Khelif in the quarterfinals, one fight away from guaranteeing at least a bronze medal for herself.

The quarterfinal bout will take place at 04:35 on Tuesday, 3rd August.

Kellie Harrington won her lightweight last-16 fight against Italy's Rebecca Nicoli by unanimous decision.

She will fight Algeria's Imane Khelif in the quarter-final for the guarantee of at least a bronze medal.#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/xuU9CXg7cG

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 30, 2021

Men’s Welterweight (63-69kg) – Quarterfinal

Aidan Walsh (Ireland) v Merven Clair (Mauritius)

Aidan Walsh qualified for the quarterfinal by easily beating Cameroon’s Mengue Ayissi three days ago. His opponent Clair beat Canada’s Sanford and Jordan’s Eashash already in the tournament.

This would be a big step up from his last bout but Walsh seemed confident that he could get himself into a medal position.

The fight started cagey with both boxers not wanted to leave themselves open and choosing to make fast swings from distances. Walsh, always on his toes, seemed to be the much faster athlete, continuously ducking and dodging while leaving hits on the Mauritius man.

The Irish boxer ended the round with a unanimous vote in his favour.

The second round continued in the same vein but Walsh did not slow down. Clair knew he needed to step up or this would be the end of his Olympics but the Irish man kept eluding him.

The second round had Walsh winning 30-28 on three of the judges scores meaning except for something special, he would be going through.

The third round was one for only the diehard fans as Walsh wanted to run down the clock with little incident. He received two warnings from the referee for inactivity but that would not faze him, leaving Clair with little to do.

The final bell rang out and Walsh’s hand was raised, winning 4-1 on a split decision. This means that Ireland now have their first medallist in the boxing.

We will have to wait until he faces Team GB’s Pat McCormack to see if it will be a bronze medal or the chance of silver or gold.

That fight will take place at 04:03 on Sunday, 1st August.

Ireland’s other boxer Kurt Walker will also fight against USA’s Duke Ragan on Sunday at 03:30.

ANOTHER MEDAL FOR IRELAND!! Boxer, Aidan Walsh, is guaranteed at least a bronze after a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Merven Clair of Mauritius! ⁦ @Tokyo2020⁩ #Olympics pic.twitter.com/wYe9yp38VT

— Des Cahill (@sportsdes) July 30, 2021

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Sensational performance from Ireland's Kurt Walker! He's knocked out featherweight top seed, and reigning world champion, Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan.

Walker won the last-16 fight by split decision.

He's one win from a medal!#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/fUpxBHAffN

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 28, 2021

Men’s Featherweight (52-57kg) – Round of 16

Kurt Walker (Ireland) v Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (Uzbekistan) 

Walker has shown himself to be in with shout of a medal at this years Games with some brilliant fights in the last few days.

The Lisburn resident beat Spain’s Jose Quiles Brotons in the first round of the featherweight boxing.

Early this morning he faced off against Uzbekistani fighter Mirzakhalilov who was given a bye to reach this stage. His opponent is the reigning world champion and was top seeded entering the competition.

In the first round, the 26-year-old Irish boxer went in hard and won over four of the five judges. He continued the strong form into the second round with three of the judges scoring higher again.

The Irishman pulled off some great dodges along with his strong right arm to show his real quality, lasting through a cut above his eye.

Walker eased off the pedal in the final round as he tired, Uzbekistan’s boxer fought back, knowing he’d need a really big few minutes to win a place in the quarter finals.

Ireland’s Walker held out, winning only one vote from the judges but this was enough to take the tie on a score of 4-1.

He will now face America’s Duke Ragan in the quarter finals knowing a win would earn him at least a bronze medal.

That fight will take place on Sunday, 1st August at 03:30.

Kurt Walker’s baby daughter Layla was born three months prematurely last May — at a time when he couldn’t even see her in hospital. No competitive fight in 16 months coming into Tokyo. Unseeded, rotter of a draw…

Now one fight away from a medal. pic.twitter.com/INCxpmLkU2

— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) July 28, 2021

Women’s Middleweight (69-75kg) – Round of 16

Aoife O’Rourke (Ireland) v Qian Li (China)

O’Rourke came into this bout looking for Ireland’s first female boxing victory at Tokyo 2020, she needed to defeat China’s boxer first.

Li seemed confident in the first round, rarely keeping her hands up and skipping around the ring. The Chinese woman took the first round, splitting the judges 3-2.

The Roscommon boxer improved her battling in the second round, forcing Li to hold O’Rourke for much of the round. This was still not enough as she lost the judges voting again.

O’Rourke would need a powerful display in the final round to manage a victory and she showed it for three straight minutes. She dominated each second with Li looking battered and tired.

Li ended winning the bout on unanimous decision and will go to the quarter final.

O’Rourke can keep her head held high as the 24-year-old winning the final round and will look towards Paris in three years for another chance.

#Boxing

A super showing from Ireland’s Aoife O’Rourke but she loses out in the end to Qian Li of China in the Women’s Middle (69-75g) preliminaries by unanimous decision #TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/EZ6ByR68tV

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) July 28, 2021

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Mengue Ayissi was the aggressor in the fight with Walsh more than happy to sit back and enjoy a defensive, counter-attacking role.

The Cameroonian swung wild and dangerously throughout the fight, getting docked points twice in the three rounds for dangerous hits.

Four of the five judges working at the match scored the first round in favour of Aidan Walsh after a strong finish to the round displayed the differences in quality between the two fighters.

The 24-year-old from Belfast stuck to his gameplan and continued to cut a frustrated figure out of his opponent, who couldn’t get the better of Walsh.

The Olympic boxer’s sister, fellow Olympian Michaela, was audible throughout the fight, cheering her brother on as promised.

The Cameroonian’s first point-docking was given out in the second round for hits to the back of the head.

His constant counter-jabs picked away at Mengue Ayissi and earned the respect of the judges, who all scored the second round in favour of the Irishman.

Mengue Ayissi earned a second deduction at the start of the third round and it gave the boxer some urgency to secure a grand finish but it was too little, too late for the Olympian.

Walsh was even more conservative in the final round after the second deduction, knowing the fight was won if he stayed on his feet.

The judges awarded the Belfast boxer a unanimous decision win (30-25×3, 29-26, 28-27) over his opponent and gave the Team Ireland athlete a ticket to the Welterweight quarter-finals.

Walsh will face Mauritius’ Merven Clair in the quarter-final after the latter beat number-four seed Zeyad Ishiash from Jordan, with the fighters close to Olympic bronze.

The fight will take place in the early hours of Friday morning.

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