Barnes closes in on historic medal

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

The Indian sprung a shock when he defeated the 2008 Olympic silver medallist Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia on Saturday to book his place in the quarter-finals.

“We know a lot about him,” high-performance coach Billy Walsh said. “He was in Dublin for 10 days with us. We helped them get ready for the Olympic Games.

“We did test sparring with them and there won’t be a whole lot between Paddy and him. It will be close.

“We knew he was very sharp, very explosive, so it will be an interesting battle between himself and Paddy. He has had two fights under his belt now.”

He was speaking after Barnes had hammered out a 13-10 win over Thomas Essomba, a tough light flyweight from Cameroon, who took some vicious combinations from the Olympic bronze medallist — a performance that delighted Walsh.

“You see you don’t know when you wake up in the morning what he [Barnes] is going to be like,” he said.

“He was good, nice and controlled, very professional. He’s had a long week to wait. I was a bit concerned myself. This guy was explosive enough in his first fight. I know it was against an African but, you know, Paddy was railing all week to get in there, champing at the bit.

“Then he goes in there and performs really well. He didn’t really have to step on the gas too much. There’s plenty more in the tank. I think he’ll be a lot better from that.

“He put the combinations together. His man was open as he threw them, we knew that, we met him every time with his right hand, a left hook, he was very open, once Paddy didn’t get caught too much himself.”

“That’s me eased now into the competition and I can only improve from here on in,” Barnes said. “I got them going, a bit sloppy at times but I still got them going.”

Olympic champion Shiming Zou is waiting for Barnes if he gets through. The Chinese light flyweight, however, had to pull out all the stops to beat young Cuban sensation Yosbany Veitia Soto 14-11, to open his defence of the title.

In Beijing, Barnes was furious after failing to register a single point against the classy Chinese fighter in the semi-finals but he will get his chance to right that wrong by beating Singh Laishram.