Pat McCormack will take home an Olympic silver medal for Team GB after being outpointed in his welterweight final against Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias in the men’s boxing.
McCormack, fighting out of Sunderland, entered the event in Tokyo as the top seed and was guaranteed silver after Irish opponent Aidan Walsh withdrew from the pair’s semi-final due to injury.
McCormack won gold at the Commonwealth Games and European Championship in 2018, before matching those achievements at the European Games in 2019.
The 26-year-old was unable to do the same on Tuesday, however, as he fell to a unanimous decision defeat by Iglesias.
A competitive first round saw some snapping jabs from the Briton and clean body work from Iglesias. McCormack celebrated some evasive footwork in the middle of the round with a confident shuffle, but his opponent ended the frame on top and took it with a 4-1 split from the judges.
The Cuban appeared to drop McCormack with a left hook early in the second, but the Tunisian referee ruled it a slip instead.
McCormack then tied up Iglesias frequently throughout the remainder of the round, showing off his superior strength, and ended the frame with a series of strong right hands – one of which cut the Cuban.
Iglesias won the round on all five judges’ scorecards, however, leaving McCormack in need of a finish to claim gold.
He was unable to find it, though, as Iglesias took the unanimous decision victory.
Nevertheless, Team GB has secured the most successful British boxing performance at an Olympics in 101 years, with Galal Yafai guaranteed bronze in the men’s flyweight competition.
In winning against McCormack, Iglesias, 32, added to his light welterweight gold from London 2012 and his bronze in the same weight class at Beijing 2008.
