St Michael's Athy boxer David Oliver Joyce has lost in the semi-final of the European Olympic Qualifiers in Turkey in the past few minutes.
The lightweight brawler was defeated on a unanimous decision by Welsh boxer Joe Cordina in an encounter that was oddly scored by the judges throughout. Joyce certainly lost the first round but appeared to have the upper hand on the Welsh man throughout the second, although two of the judges opted in the favour of Cortina.
Joyce had to go for it in the third, and he ultimately lost that round too.
It caps off a bad day for the Irish boxers in Turkey after Katie Taylor lost her five-year unbeaten record earlier in the day, while Belfast boxer Brendan Irvine also lost his semi-final bout today.
Both Irvine and Joyce will have another chance to qualify for the Olympics when they go into a third place box-off, though Joyce's opponent is a Turk and he will have a vociferous home crowd backing him. A victory would secure his place on the plane to Rio.
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