Emmet Brennan becomes seventh Irish boxer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Dublin light-heavyweight Emmet Brennan became the seventh Irish boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after coming through a bruising box-off against Sweden's Liridon Nuha at the European qualifier in Paris on Monday night.

The 30-year-old was handed an unanimous decision even though four of the five judges scored the fight as a 28-28 draw. The other judge scored it 29-27 in Brennan’s favour, his nervous wait for a verdict exacerbated after he was deducted a point in the final round for holding against an opponent who continued to hit on after the break on a number of occasions.

Speaking to the Irish Athletic Boxing Association website, Brennan said his plan now is to make the medal podium in Japan.

“ I’m going to give it everything I have, I quit boxing and only came back four or five years ago. The goal was to get to the Olympics. Now it’s to push on and try to get a medal, I’m going to give it everything I have.”