Mixed feelings for GB Boxing after three-medal haul in Rio

22 August 2016 05:24

Joe Joyce's gallant silver medal in the last action of the Rio 2016 Olympic boxing tournament encapsulated both the success and frustration of the Games from a Great Britain point of view.

Joyce was controversially outpointed by Frenchman Tony Yoka in their super-heavyweight final despite appearing to dominate large swathes of the contest.

It meant Britain's 12-strong boxing team took home a medal of every colour, hitting their UK Sport funding target, but the achievement will be tinged by disappointment that it could have been more.

As expected Nicola Adams cruised through her three women's flyweight bouts to become the first British boxer to retain an Olympic title since London middleweight Harry Mallin in 1924.

And the emergence of light-heavyweight Josh Buatsi was also one of the highlights of the Games, not least in the way he floored and stopped tough Uzbek Elshod Rasulov in his second bout.

If Buatsi's success was a surprise, Joyce's fate appeared almost pre-destined as he smashed his way to a final rematch against Yoka, who went on to claim a second dubious points win.

The disappointment for Great Britain came in the early exits of a series of young, exciting fighters who it had been hoped would take the Rio Games by storm.

Pat McCormack performed superbly to beat Kazakh Ablaikhan Zhussupov in his opening contest, before falling narrowly to accomplished Cuban Yasniel Toledo in round two.

But another strong medal hope, Keighley bantamweight Muhammad Ali, betrayed his inexperience as he was pushed out in his opening bout by Venezuela's Yoel Sergundo Finol.

GB Boxing performance director Rob McCracken hailed his team's medal success and said he hoped the majority of the team would stay with the national programme looking towards the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

McCracken said: "We are where we would hope to be at the moment and the future is bright and we can push on to Tokyo with greater strength in depth.

"The boxers know they need to get a bit more experience and they need to get better known with the judges and hopefully that will help us be even more successful in Tokyo."

Source: PA