LOCAL REACTION:AT THE Chester Bar on Belfast's Antrim Road, Paddy Barnes's family and friends gathered at lunchtime yesterday to watch his fight against China's defending champion, Zou Shiming.
The bar was filled with balloons and flags, and there were even Paddy Barnes face masks for the kids.
Before the bout, the tension was palpable. Barnes’s three cousins, Rachel and Emma Gilvary and Danielle O’Reilly, were perched on the edge of their seats, biting their nails.
“I’m really anxious, really nervous for him,” said Danielle (19), who grew up alongside the boxer. “Paddy is determined, he’s motivated, and he doesn’t let the pressure get to him.”
Gareth, Paddy’s brother, said that after the boxer’s previous bout with Zou in the Beijing Olympics, where he was beaten 15-0 at the same stage, he knew what to expect: “Paddy knows the guy, he knows his style and his technique. When Paddy has something in his head, you won’t stop him.”
Barnes’s aunt, Brigín, who was passing around a tray of cocktail sausages, said: “He will do it.”
There was a real community feeling. While Barnes trains regularly in Dublin, his home club is Holy Family Golden Gloves, in north Belfast. It’s a small facility, but one that has punched well above its weight for many years, regularly bringing in national, European and world titles, as well as Olympic medals.
The club and its fighters inspire great affection in the area. “Boxing is a universal support, open to everyone, no matter who you are,” said Gareth, “and having a local man at the Olympics really brings people together. It’s a force for good for the whole community.”
When the fight began, the emotional energy in the room could have moved mountains. Everyone was on their feet roaring in support of Barnes.
One dad bent down to say to his little son, who was tucking into his lunch, “come on, never mind your sausage roll, you’ve got to cheer, Paddy needs you”.
“Please, please, please let him win,” begged another woman in a Paddy Barnes T-shirt.
But it wasn’t to be. Although it seemed that Barnes had done enough to claim victory in the third round, Zou won on a countback. Disappointment quickly turned to expressions of pride. Conor Barnes, Paddy’s uncle, said, “What he’s achieved, it’s amazing: he’s a double bronze Olympic medallist. In our eyes Paddy’s a champion and a role model to kids all over Belfast.”
“I’m raging for him, but I’m so proud too,” said Gareth. “At the end of the day, the real winner is Paddy.”