David Joyce represented Ireland in the lightweight division at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

He defeated Andrique Allisop of the Seychelles by unanimous decision in the round of 32 before losing to Azerbaijan’s Albert Selimov in the round of 16. Joyce qualified for Rio after winning a box-off against Turkey’s Volkan Gockek at the European qualifying tournament in Samsun.

He comes from one of Ireland’s most celebrated boxing families — the Joyce family from Mullingar, members of the Travelling community, who have produced numerous Irish champions and international boxers. His cousin John Joe Joyce represented Ireland at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and his cousin Joe Ward competed at Rio 2016 alongside him. Joyce won gold at the EU Championships in 2008, 2009 and 2014 and was a multiple Irish national champion.