Irish boxer Darren O'Neill will not travel to Rio this summer after he was beaten during his Olympic qualifier in Baku today.
The Kilkenny heavyweight needed to secure a gold medal in the qualifying tournament in Azerbaijan, but lost out via unanimous decision to Nigeria's Wesley Apochi in the last 16.
Lost 3-0 today. The Rio dream is over. Thanks for all the support everyone. Probably did the better boxing but guy just mauled me. Gutted 😢
— Darren O'Neill (@DarrenONeil) June 20, 2016
There was, thankfully, contrasting fortunes for Michael O'Reilly.
He beat Vitalia Bandarenka of Belarus to advance to the last 16 of the middleweight qualifiers. The top five ranked fighters will secure a spot in Rio. He needs just two more wins to book his spot at the Games.
O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner will be in action tomorrow, with Gardiner facing Viktor Vychryst of the Ukraine. Only a gold medal for him will secure his place at the Olympics.
