There was double dissapointment for Ireland at the Olympics this morning.
Irvine lost 4-1 to Carlo Paalam of the Philippines.
And Irma Testa of Italy beat Michaela Walsh.
Paalam seemed to catch Irvine by surprise by his sheer aggression in the first round and repeatedly caught the Belfast flyweight with combinations to take the round on all five cards.
Irvine had a better second round but Paalam was still finding the target with head shots, Irvine replying with some well timed shots of his own.
The third round followed a similar pattern and it was Paalam that got the nod over the Irish captain on four of the cards.
Irvine told RTE:
“This stuff happens every day. The better man won on the day. I did think it was a close fight and I probably could have got it myself but that’s just the way it goes.
“It’s been a roller-coaster getting here but I’m proud to have left everything in the ring and give it my all.”
Meanwhile,Walsh lost to Testa on a unanimous decision in the featherweight class..
Walsh held a 3-2 lead after the first round but Testa, who beat Walsh in the European qualifiers in Paris last month, bounced back to take the lead going into the third round.
Walsh needed to win the final round to stay in the Olympics and the Belfast fighter did find the target with some excellent punches but Testa got the decision.
Walsh told RTÉ Sport: “I felt I was well up in the first round and she came back in the second so it was level going into the last round. I felt it was a great fight but it was her day today.
“She made a big push in the last round, I wish her the best going forward. I hope she goes all the way.”
Tokyo Olympics
July 24th
Last 32
57kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) beat Jose Quiles (Spain) 5-0
July 25th
Last 32
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) lost to Dilshod Ruzmetov (Uzbekistan) 0-5
July 26th
Last 32
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) lost to Carlo Paalam (Philippines) 1-4
Last 16
57kg Michaela Walsh (Ireland) lost to Irma Testa (Italy) 0-5
July 27th
Last 16
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) v Albert Menque (Cameroon) or Thabiso Dlanini (Swz)
July 28th
Last 16
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Ireland) v Li Qian (China)
57kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) v Mirazizbek Mitzakhalilov (Uzbekistan)
July 30th
Last 16
60hk Kellie Harrington (Ireland) v Rebecca Nicoli (Italy) or Esmerelda Falcon (Mexico)