Brendan “Wee Rooster” Irvine became a two-time Irish Olympian in London tonight.
But Kurt Walker lost to German feather Hamsat Shadolov with a Tokyo 2020 57kg ticket on the line.
The IOC Task Force for Boxing announced before this evening’s session that the tournament will be postponed following the completion of tonight’s bouts because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Click here for statement.
Irvine, the Irish captain, was in dominant form against tough Hungarian flyweight Istavan Szaka. Irvine found the target with just about every shot in the book, but Szaka, to his credit, refused to back down and kept coming forward.
The scoreboard, however, told its own tale with Irvine winning by a wide margin on four of the five cards,
Walker and Russia-born Shadolov were involved in a see-saw battle with the German feather taking the first two untidy rounds. Walker won the third but Shadolov had enough in the bank to claim the final Tokyo 2020 place on offer this evening.
16 places at the 32nd Olympiad were won in the flyweight and featherweight classes tonight.
Earlier today, Michael Nevin beat Dutch middleweight Max Van Der Pas in the last bout of the early session.
The Laois fighter countered well in all three rounds to earn a 4-1 split decision.
Van Der Pas picked up a facial cut after an accidental clash of heads in the second, with Nevin finishing out the bout on the front foot en route to a deserved victory.
Aidan Walsh cruised into the last 16 at the expense of Pavel Kamanin in London.
The Antrim welter earned a unanimous decision over the game Estonian who struggled to cut down the space between himself and the Commonwealth finalist in all three rounds.
Walsh caught his opponent with some slick counters throughout, but two big backhands in the second round, the first of which rocked Kamanin, were the pick of his punches.
Carly McNaul bowed out of the 43-nation event this afternoon.
The Belfast flyweight dropped a unanimous decision to Charley Davison of Team GB in the last 16 of the tournament.
McNaul fought bravely throughout but was left with a mountain to climb after losing the first two rounds to the slick English southpaw who forced the Ulster orthodox into two standing counts in the third.
2018 World Elite champion Kellie Harrington, current European champion Aoife O’Rourke, Michaela Walsh and Dean Gardiner did not get to box because the tournament was postponed.
Overall, Ireland won six of nine bouts in London and booked one ticket for Tokyo 2020.
European Qualifiers for Tokyo 2020
Copperbox Arena London March 13/24
March 16
Last 32
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) beat Pavel Kamanin (Estonia) 5-0
75kg Michael Nevin (Ireland) beat Max Van Der Pas (Netherlands) 4-1
Last 16
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) beat Istavan Szaka (Hungary) 5-0
51kg Carly McNaul (Ireland) lost Charley Davison (Team Great Britain) 0-5
57kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) lost to Hamsat Shadolov (Germany) 0-5
March 15
Last 32
63kg George Bates (Ireland) beat Leon Dominguez (Spain) RSCI1
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) beat Radenko Tomic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) RSC2
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Ireland) beat Begadze Nikoloz (Georgia) 4-1
Last
16
69kg Christina Desmond (Ireland) lost to Angela Carina (Italy) 0-5
Irish squad
(Olympic qualification standard in brackets)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Paul’s, Antrim) Cpt (Top 8)
57kg Kurt Walker (Canal, Antrim) (Top 8)
63kg George Bates (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 8)
69kg Aidan Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
75kg Michael Nevin (Portlaoise, Laois) (Top 6)
81kg Emmet Brennan (Dublin Docklands) (Top 6)
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Smithfield, Dublin) (Top 4)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel, Tipperary) (Top 4)
Female
51kg Carly McNaul (Ormeau Road, Belfast) (Top 6)
57kg Michaela Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
60kg Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 6)
69kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgan’s, Cork, Garda BC) (Top 5)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea, Roscommon) (Top 4)
High-Performance Director: Bernard Dunne
Coaches: Zaur Antia, John Conlan, Dmitry Dimitruk