Davy Larmour was the best-placed Irish boxer at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, reaching the quarter-finals of the men’s flyweight division before losing a narrow 4-1 points decision to Leo Randolph of the USA – a teenager who went on to win the flyweight gold medal. From the Shankill Road in Belfast and a member of Albert Foundry Boxing Club, Larmour had been captivated by boxing as an eight-year-old when he watched Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio fight on BBC TV’s America’s Fight of the Week.

A Harland and Wolff shipyard worker, he won his first Irish senior flyweight title in 1973 and retained it every year through to 1976, and won a gold medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch – arriving in Montreal with realistic medal hopes. Three African withdrawals after the draw was completed meant he received a first-round bye and two walkovers before facing Randolph without the benefit of a warm-up fight. In a close contest the Mongolian judge made Larmour a 60-58 winner while the Egyptian judge gave it to Randolph 60-57 – assigning all three rounds to the American while the Mongolian awarded him two. The inconsistency illustrated the systemic problems with Olympic boxing judging.