BRENDAN Irvine came up short in his opening bout at the Tokyo Games as the Belfast man lost out to Filipino Carlo Paalam in the flyweight preliminary round this morning.
The St Paul's ABC man was stunned with a lightning start from Paalam who was too quick and aggressive from the opening bell and while Irvine did steady to gain a foothold and then finish well, he just had too much ground to make up after the slow start.
It was a difficult one for Irvine who was in his second Olympics having lost out to eventual gold medal winner Shakhobidin Zoirov in his opener at Rio, but entered this tournament with hopes of going deep in the competition.
“I’m absolutely devastated to not win," he said after.
"I’ve put so much in these past three years to get here. So you can understand why it’s a bit emotional. But I’m immensely proud to be representing my country and to be captain of the boxing team. I just have to pick myself and support the rest of the team now.”
It was a difficult start as Paalam came out like a whirlwind, up on his feet and throwing explosive combinations. Irvine was being beaten to the punch and shipped some flush shots to the jaw as the Filipino fought with aggression, speed and accuracy.
All five judges saw the opening stanza the way of the Filipino whose relentless approach seemed to stun the Glencolin man who just couldn't get anything going.
A dejected Brendan Irvine exits the ring 
There was no let up in the second round as Paalam picked up where he left off and continued to fight with aggression, his fast hands and volume of shots nullifying Irvine who gradually began to enjoy a little more success.
The Belfast man just seemed to be gaining a foothold as the round progressed as he began to solve the riddle, but just two of the three judges felt he had done enough in the round the leave him requiring a big third.
Irvine made a much better start to the final round, scoring with an early assault that set the tone as he began to dominate with classy combinations. Paalam did maintain his pace, landing with a couple of rights, but Irvine appeared to be the boss as he closed the gap and started to finally get into his flow.
Still, there was a lot of ground to make up after the slow start and in the end, he just couldn't turn it around as the bell signalled the end of his challenge with Paalam taking the nod on four of the five judges' cards (30-27, 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 29-28).
Having battled back from a broken foot that left him out of the ring for a lengthy spell a couple of years back, Irvine managed to return and qualify for these Games to become a two-time Olympian.
Naturally disappointed he couldn't advance, the team captain can still be proud of what he has achieved and will now lend his support to the rest of the team.
“If you had asked me three years ago if would I have been at the Games I would have told you no," he reflected.
"It’s an achievement to get here, but when you’re here, you obviously want more, and to get a medal - but it wasn’t meant to be.
"We’ve a superb team here, incredible athletes, and to be an Olympian is something special, so you can imagine the talent in each and every athlete here.”
