Aoife O'Rourke successfully traded in her bronze medal for silver, at least, following a comprehensive 4:0 split decision victory over China’s Lina Wang at the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool.
Guaranteed bronze for reaching the semi-final stage, O’Rourke’s strength and intensity proved too much for Wang who faded as the fight progressed.
She will fight for gold in the women's 75kg category against Turkey's Busra Isildar at 2.45pm on Sunday (Live on RTÉ Player)
It was a fast start from O’Rourke, boxing out of the blue corner, quickly taking control of the centre of the ring, leading with a strong left jab.
The Castlerea native appeared in control, landing well, while Wang was also deducted a point, however, three of the judges were appreciative of the China fighter’s back-foot, defensive approach, with two for O’Rourke – the deducted point working in her favour overall.
More of the same from O’Rourke in the second round, and while maybe not landing as cleanly as she would have liked, the aggression was upsetting Wang. Her opponent still happy to box off the back foot and was landing well, albeit without enough frequency.
A late flurry from O’Rourke sparked the round into life and it may have swayed the judges with four giving her the decision.
Roscommon's Aoife O’Rourke is guaranteed of at least a silver medal after qualifying for the final of the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool via split decision.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 13, 2025
🖥️ https://t.co/DgqkEuRwDK pic.twitter.com/yzVfODKWPh
Into the final round, and thanks to that early point deduction, if looked like O’Rourke had one foot in the final, however, she had to keep up the intensity to ensure that there would be no late drama.
In fact, O’Rourke asserted her dominance throughout that final stanza against a clearly fatiguing Wang, who was hit with a standing count, which essentially sealed the victory for the Roscommon woman, who will now fight for 75kg gold on Sunday against Turkey's Busra Isildar.
The final tally from the judges resulted in a 4:0 split decision with the Argentina judge awarding Wang the first two rounds, but ended as a 28:28 tie as a result of the point deduction. The other four judges awarded it to O'Rourke, 29-27, 30-26, 29-27, 30-26.
Patsy Joyce was aiming to join O'Rourke in the gold medal fight in the 55kg bantamweight division as he went head-to-head with Spain's Rafael Lozano Serrano, however, the Mullingar teenager was edged out and has to settle for bronze.
It all looked to be going to plan in the first round as the taller Joyce used his range well, scoring with quick combinations, while remaining elusive throughout.
Joyce has had issues with a cut over his eye all tournament and they were clearly concerned in the blue corner that it would open up and cause the fight to be waved off.
And it was Serrano who was obviously pushing the pace in the second stanza, working hard to get in close, but although Joyce remained composed, boxing well on the outside, there was a nick to the wound, causing a time-out to wipe off the trickle of blood coming down his cheek.
As a result, Joyce remained ultra cautious in the second half of the round and was probably not throwing enough to catch the eye. Sure enough, the cagey approach did not go down well with the ringside five who all went in favour of Serrano.
Patsy Joyce's World Championships come to an end at the semi-final stage via split decision, but the youngster still heads back to Mullingar with a bronze medal. pic.twitter.com/nQMIA6x92A
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 13, 2025
That left it fairly even going into the final round and while Joyce started well with a good display of counterpunching and clearly busier in the opening minute, a monstrous right hand connected from Serrano as the bout moved inside the final minute.
The eye-catching shot was enough to decide an otherwise even final three minutes and while both fighters thought they won it at the bell, the verdict went to the Spaniard, who will go on to fight 2023 world champion, Kazakhstan's Makhmud Sabyrkhan in the final.
In the end, it was a split decision in favour of Serrano who took a 3-2 decision with the scorecards reading 28-29, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27.
You can watch the Irish finalists in action at the World Boxing Championships live on the RTÉ Player
