Barnes proud in defeat after losing out on glory by one punch

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.

Old foe Shiming Zou (China) ended his hopes in the light flyweight semi-final, just as he had done four years ago in Beijing.

That day Zou won 15-0, which infuriated Barnes who knew, as did everybody else, that he had scored at least six and possibly seven points. Yesterday the fight was tied 15-15 after three fast and furious rounds and when it went to a countback the score was 45-44.

“When they said countback I thought I had it because I felt I landed more punches,” Barnes said.

“But I’m not going to cry about it. He’s a three-time world champion and Olympic champion, he’s not that for no reason. He’s a brilliant boxer and a good friend and I wish him all the best for the final.

“I wouldn’t say I was sloppy but he’s that good he makes you look like that, it’s his style. He can just pick you apart all day. The first round he did that. That’s what cost me the fight, that first round.

“I’m proud of my bronze medal because in Beijing I was beaten 15-0. I felt it was an unfair score, that’s why I went off on the rant about the bronze medal.

“But to 15 each from 15-0, it’s not bad. I’d say the judges were fair today. It could have gone either way, I’m not going to complain. Fair play to Zou, I wish him all the best for the final.

“To lose on countback is bad but then you hear 45-44 I’m even more devastated. I wish he had beaten me by a couple of points. It was so, so close. It’s even more heartbreaking.”

He had Zou on the floor at one point, catching him with a two-punch combination as he went down, but there was no indication of a possible count.

“I’m surprised he didn’t give him a warning for smothering me,” Barnes said. “That’s his tactics. He’s very, very elusive and hard to pin down. Once he got three scores up in the first round, I knew it was going to be a tough fight but he was blowing at the end.

“I hurt him with a few body shots and a few head shots. I tried my hardest. I actually trained in the sparring as if I was going to knock him out but I can’t do any more than that.

“He’s very, very hard to pin down. He’s very elusive. That’s why he is so good. He’s so smart, dead cute so he is. People might call it boring boxing but I call it winning. It’s very, very frustrating but his tactics worked in the end.

“I worked my hardest in there. I’ve nothing left in the tank.

“Even though I haven’t got to the final, I’m still happy because it’s fair judging. We all got a fair crack of the whip.”

He said he hoped to be around for Rio in four years’ time, where Zou will be retired, but right now he just wants a break.

“I don’t even want to talk about boxing for a while,” he said. “I’ll never box in the Commonwealth Games again. You don’t even get a thank you or a well done from them. The Commonwealth Games was amazing and I’m really, really proud that I’m the Commonwealth champion but you get nothing for it.”