Aidan Walsh bowed out of the Olympic Qualifier in Busto Arsizio on Thursday at the last 32 stage as Brazil's Wanderson de Oliveira claimed a unanimous verdict in their 71kg bout.

The Belfast man had come through against Husain Alkandari in his opener on Tuesday, but it just wasn't to be his day this time around as his fate was all but sealed in the second when penalised twice.

He was behind on four of the five judges' cards after the first as his tactic of circling the ring in an effort to draw the lead of de Oliveira and punish wasn't to the liking of the official who twice urged him to engage. Although he did land some counters, it was the aggression of the Brazilian that was catching the eye as he pressed and scored at close range.

The second round saw the Holy Family man begin to open up and hold his feet a little more, this beginning to work for him as he mixed it up with good defensive work, but the warnings kept coming for a variety of infractions that ultimately saw him docked a point for holding/pushing and then right towards the end of the round, had another taken off that despite 'winning' the round on three of the five cards, was now well behind overall.

It was a case of throwing caution to the wind in the final frame as he was left with no option but to stand and look for a way to pull it out of the fire, whipping in some meaty hooks.

However, he was on the receiving end of similar with his gumshield knocked out and this type of fight suited de Oliveira who was throwing vicious uppercuts up close to sweep the final round to seal his spot in the last 16.

Four Olympic berths are on offer in the light-middleweight category, meaning a win at the quarter-final stage would seal a place in Paris, but the Tokyo bronze medallist will now switch his attention to the final World Qualifier that begins in Bangkok at the end of May.

Walsh will likely have competition to represent Ireland at that tournament as Dean Walsh and Eugene McKeever missed out this time and will be keen to earn the nod for Thailand.

The Black's Road native had been out of the ring for over a year prior to this tournament and earlier in the week, expressed his gratitude to all those who helped him get back after a difficult period.

“The Olympics changed my life, and I will be forever grateful to the Olympic Games because it’s something that I will remember for the rest of my life," he told Olympics.com

"The help and support that I got after that was absolutely amazing, and I was surrounded by good people. I’m just happy to be back in boxing and just loving sport again. My main motivation now is just to be here and enjoy sport. Whether I win, lose or draw, I just want to compete to my best.”