Boxer Brendan Irvine secures first Irish medal at European Games

"It won't be our last, definitely won't be," said Brendan Irvine, not long after he'd secured Ireland's first medal at these European Games. Only turns out it was our last medal of the day.

Indeed Irvine was possibly the least fancied of the trio of Irish boxers fighting for a guaranteed bronze medal, yet the only one to come through: Ceire Smith and Dean Gardiner later lost their quarter-final bouts, although with six more Irish quarter-final bouts to come, the medal rush is a long way from drying up.

Profile and ranking

Yet given the profile and ranking of Irvine’s light flyweight opposition – the local gold medal hope Salman Alizada from

Azerbaijan

– it seemed like he would be up against it, and after the first round he was.

Then, with a display of strength and confidence that defied his 19 years, the Belfast fighter hit back, winning the next two rounds.

He now goes into tomorrow’s semi-final with at least a bronze medal in his back pocket, and the chance of a brighter colour. “It was a proper battle,” said Irvine of his contest with the Azerbaijani, “and I knew it was going to be. He was the number-one seed coming in here. And I knew the atmosphere would be like that. And to be honest, the atmosphere probably drove me on, more than it did him. So I just focused on the performance.

“They were always going to back him from the start, but the crowd had no effect on me, to be honest. But this is only the start of the journey.”

Next up for Irvine is Dmytro Zamotayev from Ukraine, who scored a unanimous win in his quarter-final, and looks as daunting a prospect as Alizada.

Smith went into her flyweight bout with Saiana Sagataeva hoping to secure a second bronze for the Irish boxers. However, the Russian a stubborn was a opponent who took the win on a split-decision.

“She’s a great opponent, she beat me convincingly in Germany last year,” said the 22-year-old Smith, from the Cavan boxing club.

"A split decision is always gutting but it's a long way from last year when she destroyed me. She's not European silver medallist for nothing. I suppose she wasn't expecting the fight that I gave her, it just wasn't to be today. But it's a long way from home and the gym I train in in Cavan town. It's the top eight in Europe that are left, the crème de la crème. It's fantastic to be here, representing my county, but I'm devastated. It's just back to the drawing board, more work more training with Billy Walsh. "

Gardiner went into the ring for his super heavyweight quarter-final bout against the young Frenchman Tony Yoka, and immediately found the reach and pace of his opponent hard to handle.

Yoka took the first two rounds, and although the 27-year-old Gardiner landed enough punches to win the third, Yoka was awarded the unanimous decision.

“Yeah, I was beaten fair and square, but it is a learning curve,” said the big man from Clonmel. “I’ll look over it, see where I went wrong and improve the next day. The only time you learn something is when you lose. I’d rather have the bronze medal, than the learning curve, but I can look back on this and see where I went wrong.

Great people

“But I have to say these games have been great – great people, I can’t complain. And I think the games will go on into the future, yeah.”

Meanwhile, confirmation of Katie Taylor’s quarter-final bout at these European Games in Baku has made for interesting reading. Taylor is up against Sweden’s Ida Lundblad in the last eight, that bout now confirmed for tomorrow morning (8.45am Irish time), and another victory there will guarantee the Bray fighter at least a bronze medal.

Lundblad shouldn’t worry her, although there will be a fascinating contest in the other quarter-final, where the Russian Zinaida Dobrynina faces the local medal hope Yana Alekseevna from Azerbaijan. It was Alekseevna who Taylor beat in her final bout in Jeju, Korea, and if everything goes to plan, Taylor will face either her or Dobrynina in the semi-final. That fight, assuming Taylor gets there, is set for Friday and may well decide the gold medal.