Belfast boxer Brendan Irvine came from behind to see off the challenge of Bulgaria’s Daniel Asenov to secure an Olympic ticket in Samsun, Turkey today.
Both men – who were born on the same day a year apart, Irvine on May 17th, 1996 and Asenov on May 17th, 1997 – met in a third place box-off, with the winner guaranteed a ticket to Rio 2016.
Irvine, the No. 1 seed in the flyweight class in Samsun, had to pull out all the stops to subdue his fiery opponent, who, to his credit, set a pace and never really relented.
Two of the judges split for Asenov at the end of a first frame which saw the Bulgarian land three big overhand rights. Irvine found his range at mid-way and hit the target with the punch of the bout, a sweet uppercut bang on the button.
Asenov received a public warning for dropping – he had been cautioned in the first round – his head in the second, which was a much more composed round from Irvine, although the Bulgarian fly was still pouring forward at any opportunity.
Asenov detonated some solid shots in opening exchanges of the third, but Irvine continued to pick off the cleaner punches, with Asenov’s overhand right hook now telegraphed well in advance and missing with regularlity.
In the end, it came down to who wanted it more from a fierce battle between two totally committed fighters going down a frenetic final stretch.
That man proved to be the current Irish Elite champion from the St Paul’s BC in west Belfast on a unanimous decision.
“It was a fantastic performance from Brendan against a very tough opponent. We’ll now be looking to get David Oliver over the line tomorrow,” said Irish team manager Joe Hennigan.
Irvine now joins Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward on the plane to Rio.
