Jack Marley's dream of securing an Olympic medal came to an end after suffering a quarter-final defeat to Tajikistan’s Davlat Boltaev in the men’s 92kg division at Paris 2024.
The Dubliner is the first Irish heavyweight to compete at an Olympics since 1996 and had he won in the Arena Paris Nord’s final fight of the night, a second boxing medal would have been secured after Kellie Harrington advanced to the women’s 60kg semi-finals on Wednesday.
But Marley’s journey ended at the hands of Boltaev by split decision.
The 21-year-old Monkstown BC fighter reached the quarter-finals after a split decision-victory of his own over Poland's Mateusz Bereznicki on Sunday and advanced to a fight with second-seeded Boltaev who had narrowly come through his last-16 fight against Georgian Georgii Kushitashvili on the same night.
Marley was aggressive from the off against a skilled opponent who had shown vulnerabilities when dealing with the ferocity of Kushitashvili.
But the judges gave that first round 4-1 to the 2022 Asian Games champion.
Marley continued to take the fight to Boltaev in the second but his opponent proved canny in largely avoiding getting caught.
The second again went to the boxer from Tajikistan by a 4-1 score on the judges' cards leaving Marley with a mountain to climb in the final round.
He did win the last round 3-2 but it was not enough for victory which means he becomes the eighth Irish fighter eliminated from the Games following Daina Moorehouse's controversial defeat earlier in the night.
Speaking after the fight, Marley said the defeat was a "bitter pill to swallow".
'We won't moan about it. It's a privilege to be here on this top international stage at 21 years of age' - Jack Marley speaks after his quarter-final exit at the hands of Davlat Boltaev#RTESport #Paris2024
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He told RTÉ Sport: "I misheard the corners, I thought I was up in the first, down in the second and all level going into the last and I thought I did enough to win it.
"We won't moan about it, it is what it is, it's a privilege to be here on this top international stage, 21 years of age, I have to pinch myself to remind me.
"I left it all in there, left it all in there."
Despite being Ireland's youngest boxer at the Games at 21, and fighting in the heavyweight division, Marley was not fazed by the occasion.
"I wasn't overwhelmed. I really adapted well, really enjoyed it and losing to the Asian champion on such tight margins, sure look it is what it is," he added.
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