Led by women’s gold medallist Katie Taylor, all the members of the Irish boxing team assembled at the ExCel yesterday to see Michael Conlan receive his medal.

Usually a loss diminishes your reputation but for Paddy Barnes, following a gut-wrenching countback defeat, he walked out of the ring with his head held high.

At exceptional moments like this it is easy to see how great and positive an influence sport can be, and generally is, in our lives.

Michael Conlan was fancied for a medal at these Olympics ever since he qualified at the world championships in Baku last November, when he was beaten by Andy Selby by just one point.

Only five medallists from Beijing have survived as the Olympic boxing tournament in London reaches the semi-finals and two of those will face each other today (1.30pm) when the defending light flyweight champion Shiming Zou will face Ireland’s Paddy Barnes for a third time.

Paddy Barnes made history by becoming the first Irish boxer to win two Olympic medals when he assured himself of another bronze with an emphatic 23-18 victory over Devendro Singh Laishram (India) in an entertaining light flyweight quarter final last night.

Paddy Barnes has become the first Irish boxer to win medals at consecutive Olympic games.

Paddy Barnes hopes to become the first Irish boxer to win two Olympic medals and victory over newcomer, Devendro Singh (India), in tonight’s quarter-final the ExCel (8.45pm) would fulfil that ambition.

Paddy Barnes will become the first Irish boxer to win two Olympic medals if he defeats Devendro Singh Laishram (India) on Wednesday night (9pm).

Beijing bronze medallist Paddy Barnes and fellow Belfast man Michael Conlan are just two wins away from a medal at the Olympic Games following yesterday’s draw which threw up some interesting pairings.

PADDY BARNES bridged a 19-year gap in Irish boxing by claiming the gold medal in the light flyweight division, Kilkenny’s Darren O’Neill added silver from Saturday’s middleweight final and three other boxers chipped in with bronze to create Irish boxing history at the European championships in Moscow.

British middleweight James DeGale has acknowledged his losing run against Ireland's Darren Sutherland - but insists that it will be different this time.

Irish captain Ken Egan joined compatriot Paddy Barnes on the winners' podium at the Beijing Olympics after he outclassed Brazilian light heavyweight Washington Silva (8-0) over four rounds today.

Irish boxer Paddy Barnes is guaranteed at least an Olympic bronze medal after his victory at the Worker's Indoor Arena in Beijing today.

World and three times European lightweight (60Kg) champion Katie Taylor claimed yet another victory after stopping Canadian Katie Dunn at the University of Illinois in Chicago last night.

PADDY BARNES went the full distance with the world champion, Shiming Zou from China, in their light flyweight quarter final at the World Championships in Chicago but his brave effort ended in the defeat.

PADDY BARNES became the first Irish boxer to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games with an emphatic 33-12 points victory over the highly-rated Japanese champion, Kenju Ohkubo, in an action-packed contest at the world championships in Chicago yesterday.