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08th Jun 2013

Heartbreak for Barnes as broken nose rules him out of European final

Paddy Barnes will not contest the lightweight final at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Minsk today after it was confirmed that his nose had been broken during yesterday’s semi-final.

Conor Heneghan

Paddy Barnes will not contest the lightweight final at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Minsk today after it was confirmed that his nose had been broken during yesterday’s semi-final.

The Belfast boxer was hugely impressive in defeating Salman Alizada of Azerbaijan in yesterday’s semi-final but he did receive a bloody nose at one stage during the fight and an x-ray today confirmed the fracture that has ruled him out of today’s contest with David Ayrapetyan of Russia.

barnesnosetweet

Pic via Twitter/Paddy Barnes

Barnes will still get a silver medal having already qualified for the final in the first place but the news will come as a disastrous blow for the Olympic medalist who had been looking in such fine fettle in the last few days.

The news also takes the gloss of what was a fantastic day for Irish boxing yesterday after John Joe Nevin, Jason Quigley and Michael Conlan all qualified for the finals in their respective weight divisions and no doubt they’ll be even more motivated than ever to win gold for their embattled comrade.