JOHN JOE NEVIN has claimed Ireland’s first silver medal at London 2012.
The 23-year-old bantamweight fighter lost out to Team GB’s Luke Campbell by a score of 14-11 in his final at the ExCel Arena tonight.
Campbell edged the opening three minutes and was leading 5-3 after the first bell. Nevin fought back in Round 2, winning it 5-4 but after a knock down in the final round, the Mullingar fighter was beaten by a margin of three points.
“I feel I’m a failure because I’ve beaten him before,” Nevin told RTE Sport. “I’m devastated and heartbroken as I wanted to join the club with Katie Taylor and Michael Carruth but it wasn’t to be.
I’d have taken a silver or a bronze medal a month ago but I don’t think I performed to my best on the day. He got his tactics right on the day but maybe I could have done a little bit more.
“Luke is a tremendous boxer and you can take nothing away from him. He’s very tall and rangy.”
By getting to the final, he ensured that these Games are now Ireland’s most successful since Melbourne 1956 when they also won one gold, one silver and three bronzes.
