Boxing:Adam Nolan earned a place in London 2012 this afternoon when he beat Romanian Ionut Gheorghe in the Olympic Qualification tournament in Trabzon. The Irish champion from Wexford led the fight from beginning to end and joins Paddy Barnes as the second Irish boxer to have qualified from Turkey.
And with Belfast heavyweight Tommy McCarthy losing his semi-final 15-12 to Moldovan Vladimir Cheles, it means Ireland will have five representatives at the Games.
Southpaw Nolan showed why he is such a difficult opponent in the opening round and raced to a two point lead after three minutes. But the second round is where he won the bout. His right jab was scoring well and his left kept finding the frustrated Romanian, who seemed to struggle with Nolan’s height and left hand throughout the bout.
But Nolan rocketed to 15-8 up after a sensational second round and there was no was back for the Romanian as the Irish welterweight rounded off the afternoon session with a 19-10 win.
“I just can’t believe it, can’t believe it,” said Nolan. “A boyhood dream to be competing in the Olympic Games, I’m ecstatic . . . I knew if I boxed the way I could box I’d have a great chance and everything went to plan. I just can’t believe it.”
McCarthy finally fell at the semifinal stage of the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Trabzon. McCarthy. The result means that he will not travel to London 2012 this summer.
McCarthy was in the difficult position of having to win the heavyweight title here as only one Olympic place is on offer in the weight category. He did well but there were few complaints when the busy Cheles took and early lead after the first round.
McCarthy stayed close and there was really only a point or two between them in the first six minutes, Cheles leading 8-6 going into the final stanza.
But McCarthy couldn’t do enough in the closing minutes and finally bowed out 15-12.
“I’m devastated,” said the 21-year-old after the fight. “It’s hard to take when you know you can beat someone and you just don’t perform. That’s the end of my Olympic dream.”
Barnes’s week ended in frustration as he became the second Irish boxer in this tournament to fall on a decision with which the Irish camp strongly disagreed.
Joe Ward lost his light heavyweight bout earlier in the week to a Turkish opponent prompting the Irish management to lodge an appeal, which was not successful.
At least Barnes had secured his spot in the Games before going down 21-14 to Turkish boxer Ferhat Pehlivan in the semi-finals.
The Beijing bronze medallist went 6-4 down in the first round of his light flyweight bout before dropping to 15-9 after the second round.
Barnes was furious with the scoring after the bout and openly criticised the judges when the fight ended 21-14 to Pehlivan.
“I wasn't happy at all with that decision,” said Barnes. “The whole crowd knew I won it.”
