Barnes’ brave odyssey ended by mighty Zou

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.

The diminutive Belfast man lost the contest 22-8 but then, as a comparative novice at this level, he was always expected to lose. In fact he was not expected to see the bout out.

But he worked tirelessly for four action-packed rounds. He took the fight to Zou, battled his way inside the long reach and landed enough punches to record at least one computer hit in the first round, which the champion won 5-1.