Aidan Walsh is out of the Paris Olympics after a defeat by France’s Makan Traore in the last-32 of the men’s 71kg.
Four judges favoured the French fighter, while one official scored the fight as a draw.
When the result was announced, Walsh held his opponent’s arm up in the air as Traore took in the acclaim of the home support, who had been raucous throughout the bout.
Walsh, 27, was awarded a cagey first round, in which both fighters had to be reminded to engage – much to the disgust of the French support.
Traore was the aggressor in the second round, but every attempt to set upon Walsh was met with a resilient counter punch. However, all but one judge favoured the French fighter.
Walsh was caught early in the final and deciding round as the decibels rose in the north Paris Arena.
The Irish fighter was then docked a point for holding, and that gave Traore the buffer he required as he unanimously took the final round.
Walsh was the only medallist from Northern Ireland at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago and returned to the ring for the Olympics after taking 14 months away from the sport to focus on his mental health.
