A dominant final round by Aoife O’Rourke saw her clinch a spot in the middleweight final at the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool.

The former world silver medallist and four-time European champion faced Lina Wang of China, herself a former world and Asian champion.

O’Rourke, who won a world Hyrox title with her sister Lisa earlier in 2025, used that fitness to force a high pace on her opponent right from the first bell.

Her direct attacks put Wang under pressure, and the Chinese fighter was warned twice for holding, before a point was deducted from her by the referee.

However, despite seeming to be in control of the first round action, O’Rourke lost the first round on three of the judges’ scorecards.

Although Wang had more success countering the Castlerea boxer in the second, O’Rourke continued to fight on the front foot, pushing her opponent back to the ropes and dominating most of the exchanges.

O’Rourke’s busy style won over the judges, who voted 4-1 in her favour in the second round, with the point deduction meaning that she had a small lead coming into the final three minutes.

The pattern of the fight continued throughout the last session, with Wang again being warned for holding as she struggled to keep the Irish fighter at long range.

With just over a minute left, O’Rourke pushed Wang to the ropes and unloaded with combinations, forcing the referee to issue a standing count to the 2024 Asian champion.

In the final minutes, O’Rourke’s fitness continued to make the difference, and Wang looked exhausted as she returned to her corner after the final bell.

All five judges preferred the work of O’Rourke in the third and final round, and she won on a 4-0 split decision, with one judge scoring the contest a draw.

O’Rourke will now face Turkey’s Busra Isildar in the final of the women’s 75kg division after she won the other semi by split decision.

Isildar won a very competitive and entertaining fight over Emma Sue Greentree of Australia, with the final score being 4-1 to the former world silver medallist.

Then, just over an hour later, Mullingar’s Patsy Joyce confirmed a bronze medal at his first world championships, losing out to Spain’s Rafael Lozano Serrano in his semi-final.

In a very competitive and technical bout, the 19-year-old southpaw lost out by the narrowest of margins, on a 3-2 split decision.

The Mullingar southpaw entered the contest after victories against a former world champion and an Olympic bronze medallist in the previous two rounds.

From the start of the contest, Joyce was boxing from long range on the backfoot, as he has fought most of this tournament, and was effective with his jab and left cross.

Although Lozano Serrano fought at a high pace, he wasn’t able to make any serious connections in the opener, and Joyce won the round on four judges’ cards.

Before the second round, Joyce’s corner had to clean up the cut that he acquired in his round of 16 bout, but it appeared not to be too badly damaged.

However, the second round was interrupted momentarily as the referee asked the doctor to take a look at the blemish, but the contest was not hampered by it afterwards.

The action in the second generally favoured the Spanish fighter, as he closed the distance more successfully, winning on all the scorecards.

With the bout nearly dead even, the final round was the closest yet, with the 20-year-old Spaniard edging out a 3-2 split to clinch the victory.

Joyce appeared to land the cleaner shots early on in the session, but Lozano Serrano finished strongly.

Having already upset the odds to reach the semi-finals, the bronze medal caps off an excellent debut world championship for the Mullingar prospect.