Gráinne Walsh bowed out of the World Boxing Championships at the Liverpool Arena after Aida Abikeyeva of Kazakhstan progressed to the final in the 65kg division via a unanimous decision.
Walsh edged out number one seed, Olympic silver medallist and former world champion Yang Liu of China in the quarter-finals, while Abikeyeva advanced from the last eight courtesy of a unanimous points win over Busenaz Surmeneli, with the Turkish fighter a gold medallist at World, Olympic and European level.
However, the Tullamore welterweight struggled to breach the defence and combat the counterpunching style of Abikeyeva, and will leave Merseyside with a bronze medal for her efforts this week.
In the end it was a unanimous decision as Aida Abikeyeva from Kazakhstan got the better of Gráinne Walsh in the women's 65kg semi-final at the World Boxing Championships @IABABOXING #rtesport pic.twitter.com/yEfI1PXPNP
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 12, 2025
"Efforts" has been the operative word where Walsh has been concerned at the Worlds, with the 29-year-old the busiest boxer in each of her bouts, with this fight no different.
Fighting out of the red corner, Walsh set a high tempo from the opening bell, and followed up a potent body shot with a right hook.
However, Abikeyeva always looked at ease fighting on the back foot, with Walsh's aggressive style playing to the strengths of the Kazakhstani pugilist.
Many of Walsh's forays forward were met by a jarring jab that earned Abikeyeva plenty of points while preventing the Irish woman from releasing her trademark combinations.
The judges awarded the opening round to Abikeyeva on a 3-2 split and her advantage grew in the second round.
Walsh landed with a left hook and a straight right in the early stages, but too often her attacking strategy resulted in her walking on to shots from her opponent.
All five judges awarded the second round to Abikeyeva and such was her confidence that there was time for showboating in the third round as she baited her rival to keep moving forward.
The jab remained key in setting up the other punches in Abikeyeva's armory and when the final verdict arrived it read 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 in favour of the fighter in blue.
The final in the weight category will be a Central Asian derby, with Navbakhor Khamidova of Uzbekistan Abikeyeva's challenger for the top spot on the podium.
Post-fight reaction from Gráinne Walsh
Speaking afterwards to RTÉ Sport, Walsh was honest on her appraisal of the loss, saying: "It was a really difficult, cagey fight and I never really found my rhythm.
"I sparred with her two weeks ago in Sheffield and I felt we had a great gameplan.
"Every fight at this tournament has been so tough and in this competition there is no easy draw.
"As I said in previous interviews, everyone is beatable on the day, so it's a case then of who shows up. That girl is seasoned."
That said, Walsh could take some positives from making the semi-finals, and added" "Every fight is tough but I'm extremely proud of myself for getting four fights in one week.
"I've had two fights this year up to now, so I'm proud of how far I've come."
