Joe Ward's hopes of making the 2016 Olympic Games suffered a setback after he was defeated by French light-heavyweight Mathieu Bauderlique in an AIBA Pro Boxing bout in Bulgaria on Saturday night.

The Westmeath southpaw was stopped in the fourth of eight rounds having been given a standing count by the referee earlier in the round.

Bauderlique will now meet Bulgarian Spas Genov in the 81kg final for a place at Rio 2016.

Former European champion Ward will have to wait until next May’s World Series of Boxing to claim a place on the plane to Rio.