Medal of any colour is target for Barnes
And he might have were it not for the amazing talents of Chinese light flyweight Zou Shiming, who dished out a lesson in the finer points of boxing in a semi-final clash that left the diminutive Belfast man fuming.
It was easy to see why. He did not win the contest by any stretch of the imagination, but he had not been awarded a single point by the judges, although he clearly landed several solid shots.
Even IABA technical delegate Terry Smith agreed the judges had missed something.
“I don’t think anyone would suggest he [Barnes] should have beaten Zou Shiming,” he said.
“I would totally agree that he deserved to score. It is disheartening to leave the ring after four rounds without scoring in a busy fight.”
Barnes was already throwing his toys — including his Olympic medal — out of the cot insisting “bronze medals are for losers”, and he now admits he was a bit impetuous and that he is ready to settle for any medal in London next month.
“I can’t wait to come home with another medal,” he said. “The last time it was just unreal — coming home and seeing what it meant to people. The medal changed my life. I got more recognition — everyone knew who I was — and your sports grant too — that’s the main thing because I could not do what I’m doing without that.”
He was a surprise qualifier for the Beijing Olympics at the 2007 world championships in Chicago. He did not even qualify for a Sports Council grant.
“Before the world championships in Chicago I didn’t have a grant because I was only out of juniors and I was never heard of,” he said.
“I came from being a nobody to being an Olympian.
“Without the Irish Sports Council there’s no way myself or any other athlete on this team could train the way we do — we are all professionals here. We train four days a week in Dublin and we’re away from our families the whole time.
“Without the Irish Sports Council grant I could not be where I am right now. I have a mortgage to pay, a car to pay, insurance to pay and the Irish Sports Council backs me 100%.
“You couldn’t have a full-time job because you wouldn’t have time to train. Either you have a job and be a club boxer all your life or give it all up and try to get to the Olympics.
“I’d like to be the first boxer to win medals at two different Games. The last couple of teams I’ve been on created history.
“At the European championships we made history, then the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland we created history with the most medals ever and I would like to think at these Olympics I can make history again by becoming the first boxer to win two Olympic medals.
“The Olympics is bigger than the world championships and there’s more at stake. I suppose I’d die in the ring for any fight but in the Olympics you’d die if you lost.”
Despite the fact that he had made the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifier in Turkey, where he eventually fell victim to the bad judging that spoiled the tournament, the world rankings published this month saw him drop out of the top 30 — those at the top of their respective divisions will be seeded for the Olympic draw — but it does not bother Barnes himself.
“I don’t lose any sleep over the rankings,” he said. “I have my own ranking in the house.
“I’m the No 1 medallist. I know who the best is and they know who the best is.
“The world No 1 in my weight is not even the world champion. You could be No 1 for the last 10 years and still not win the Olympics. At the last Olympics the world champion was beaten in the first fight.
“The Olympic Games is like a competition where anybody can win. The only ranking that’s going to matter is next month.”
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