The curtain came down on the final qualifier for Rio 2016 in Vargas, Venezuela last night.

Please click here and here for finals results and box-off results from Latin America.

Light-welter Volodymyr Marviichuk won one fight to qualify. The Ukrainian won his quarter-final but lost in the semi-finals and claimed victory in the Rio box-off on a walkover versus Argentina’s Carlos Aquino.The top three light-welters qualify.

Ray Moylette represented Ireland in the 64kg division in Venezuela. Irish coach Eddie Bolger and club coach Martin Brennan were working his corner.

Twenty six places were earned in Vargas a month away from the opening bell for boxing at the 31st Olympiad on August 6.

Ireland will be represented in eight of the thirteen weight classes for men and women at Rio 2016. All of the Irish boxers qualified without once having the luxury of boxing on Irish soil.

16 countries achieved at least one Olympic spot in Vargas

The first batch of athletes qualified for Rio 2016 from the final qualifier in Vargas, Venezuela last night.

Click here and here for results.

Armenia’s Havhannes Bachrov, who beat Ireland’s Ray Moylette in the quarter-finals earlier this week, scored a comprehensive 30-26 win on all cards versus Volodymyr Matviichuk of the Ukraine last evening to make the light-welter final and guarantee himself a Rio ticket.

He’ll meet Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingan,who was born in Germany, for gold. The top three qualify at light-welter with the losing semi-finalists boxing off for third place.

Hassan N’Jikam of the Cameroon, the former WBO World middleweight champion and 2004 Olympian, is through to his second Olympics after winning his light-heavyweight semi-final.

Pro boxers, following an historic change to AIBA Statutes after an landslide Congress vote from National Federations, including Ireland, in favour of those changes in June, are eligible for the Olympics for the first time in the history of the sport.

Twenty six Olympic places will have been claimed after the dust settles in Vargas this weekend. Latin America brings the curtain down on the entire competitive qualification process for the 31st Olympiad.

The final five places (invitations for men) are expected to be distributed via the Tripartite Commission early next week. The three invitation places for women have already been awarded.

286 boxers – 250 males and 36 females – compete at each Olympics. Ireland has taken eight of those places, an Irish record since the qualification system was introduced for Barcelona 1992.

Boxing begins on August 6th in Rio

World Series of Boxing v AIBA Pro Boxing Qualifier Vargas, Venezuela July 3/9

Olympic Fact

Jackie Fields of the USA beat Cork’s Michael “Mossy” Doyle en route to gold at the 1924 Olympics. Fields was just 16-years-old when he finished on top of the featherweight podium in the French capital and has been confirmed by AIBA as the youngest Olympic champion of all time. Chicago-born Fields (Jacob Finkelstein) was advised by his coach to change his name because Finkelstein didn’t sound tough enough for a boxer, according to legend. The 1924 Olympic champion has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the Jewish Boxing Hall of Fame. Paris 1924 was Ireland’s first Olympics.

The Portlaoise BC rolled out the red carpet for Rio 2016 Olympian Michael O’Reilly at a recent homecoming celebration for the AIBA World No. 2 ranked middleweight.

The current European Games champion and AIBA World Elite bronze medallist qualified for Rio in emphatic style at last month’s penultimate Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Baku has proven to be a happy hunting ground for O’Reilly as he claimed a European Games gold medal in the Azeri capital in 2015.

The Irish Elite champion recorded five wins – one by way of walkover – inside a week to secure gold in June.

But the biggest prize – an Olympic ticket – was secured courtesy of finishing in the top four.

O’Reilly, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine, Michael Conlan, David Oliver Joyce, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward will represent Irish boxing in Rio next month.

The class of 2016 have broken the joint record of six qualified for Barcelona 1992 and London 2012 since the current qualification system was introduced for Barcelona.

See above newspaper article for homecoming pictures.