Ireland’s Michael Conlan was beaten in his Olympic flyweight semi-final bout, losing 20-10 to the classy Cuban Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana.
Conlan battled bravely, always looking to come forward and take the fight to his opponent but he struggled against the watertight defence of Carrazana, who used his superior hand speed to pick off the Belfast fighter.
Winning every round and forcing Conlan to take a standing count in the third, Carrazana was comfortable throughout and will now fight for the gold.
The Belfast man can hold his head high after two hugely impressive victories at the London games, and he will bring home a bronze medal.
Conlan can fight both orthodox and southpaw, but he had his work cut out for him against the natural southpaw Carrazana, who at just 18, has already been tipped to turn professional after the Olympics.
Speaking afterwards, Conlan admitted he had been beaten by the better man on the evening.
“He was the best fighter of the night. His defence was great, he was a better man than me,” the Belfast fighter said.
“He didn’t punch that hard but he was just sharp in his attacks. I was wasting a lot of energy throwing punches. I should have been waiting for my time but I was a bit eager tonight going for a gold medal.
“We have amazing support back home, all great fans, so I’m sorry for letting them down but you’ll see me in the future and I’ll be a lot better.”
