Barnes eyes medal after solid start

PADDY BARNES joins Kenneth Egan in tomorrow night’s quarter finals — just one fight away from an Olympic medal — following his impressive 14-8 victory over Jose Luis Meza (Ecuador) on Saturday.

The Belfast light-fly was the first Irish boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games and turned out to be last one into the ring having — along with Darren Sutherland — got a bye into the second round of the tournament.

But the wait did not affect him either and he was at his brilliant best against Meza, a southpaw, who was a taller opponent with a longer reach.