A tough first round was just enough to knock Dean Clancy out of the Olympic Games in Paris after a bruising bout against Obada Al-Kasbeh ended in a split decision in favour of the Jordanian.
With four judges going with Al-Kasbeh after the first three minutes, the 22-year-old Irish boxer left himself a mountain to climb against the more experienced fighter, finally falling 3-2, with the final score 27-29, 28-28, 29-27, 28-28, 27-29.
The 29-year-old Al-Kasbeh boxed in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics with this his third, while Clancy was making his debut and that probably told with Al-Kasbeh throwing himself into the contest using his jab effectively from the off. In the opening minutes Clancy left himself open, the crouching style of Al-Kasbeh effectively building a score.
“I knew going in it was going to be a tough fight pace-wise and it just took me a while to settle,” said Clancy. “I thought I came into in the second round and I thought I did enough in the third round as well. I thought I got more eye-catching shots but that’s the way that it goes.”
It was a rough and ready fight, which Clancy acknowledged, pointing to abrasions around the side of his head. In the second round Clancy was hit when he had one knee on the canvas with no sanction given. And in the third round Al-Kasbeh was warned and deducted a point for doing the same thing again.
Clancy believes Al-Kasbeh should also have been sanctioned for the first offence.
“Yeah, he was rough and ready,” said Clancy. “He got me a couple of elbows when you jumped in with a jab ... but look it’s boxing.”
Clancy had sparred with his opponent just a matter of weeks ago in the Irish team’s training camp in Germany prior to coming to Paris. He knew the package he was getting but just struggled early in the rounds with his range before surging back towards the end.
Building on a stronger second round, where he gained some ground and was competing better, he narrowly lost it 3-2, but the fight was still up for grabs going into the third stanza.
More up-tempo, Clancy was landing better and had adjusted his distance. Landing a few combinations, he was much more effective drawing the foul from Al-Kasbeh 30 seconds from the end. In the end the judges marginally went with the Jordan fighter as Clancy left the Paris Arena crushed by the narrow margin of the defeat in front of family and fans,
“I was more nervous coming on the bus, I don’t really mind the crowd,” he said. “Obviously it’s amazing to be in the ring, I’m grateful to be in the position I’m in. I want to thank all my family and friends for coming out, sorry I didn’t get the win today.”
Ireland will have three boxers in the ring on Sunday for their first outing in the Paris Arena. Holy Family’s Aidan Walsh begins his Olympic Games against French opponent Makan Traore. Belfast’s bronze medallist from the Tokyo Olympics has never met Traore before. The last time the pair were in the same competition was at Strandja in 2023, where Walsh finished at the quarter-final stage and Traore exited without winning a bout.
Gráinne Walsh, the first of Irish women’s boxers in the ring, faces Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori. Walsh is one of the two athletes in the Irish team of six women to have to compete in the first round. Four, Daina Moorehouse, Jenny Lehane, Michaela Walsh and Kellie Harrington all received byes in the draw.
Walsh has never fought against Hamori, unusual in a European context, the two have come into the division from different weights. Walsh has moved from 69kg down to 66kg, while Hamori began boxing at 64kg, before moving up to 66kg.
Jack Marley is the last of the three and goes into his first bout on Sunday evening. The South Dublin heavyweight from the Monkstown club, meets Poland’s Mateusz Bereznicki. The pair have met twice before, with Marley winning on both occasions, the first at the 2022 EUBC European U22 Championships quarter-final and again by walkover at the 2023 Usti nad Labem Grand Prix in the Czech Republic.
Sunday’s Irish bouts (Irish time)
71kg: A Walsh (Ire) v M Traore (Fra), 10.32am
66kg: G Walsh (Ire) v L Hamori (Hun), 4.22pm
92kg: J Marley (Ire) v M Bereznicki (Pol), 7.32pm
