TOMMY McCARTHY SUFFERED a 15-12 defeat to Vladimir Cheles of Moldova in the heavyweight semi-finals of the Olympic qualifers.
Fighting out of the blue corner, McCarthy got off to a slow start to dominate the second round.
However, Cheles pressed him for space in the final round and landed enough telling blows to win by three points.
McCarthy needed a win in the final of the event in Trabzon to book his passage to London 2012 but will take heart from his journey to the semi-final.
McCarthy needed to be on his toes in the first round as he evaded a huge uppercut from Cheles and the points were level until the Irish fighter found his arm snared in the Moldovan’s mid-riff. Cheles was able to land a clean blow to the head, although McCarthy soon drew level when he got in a late tag to his opponent’s ribs.
The strategy for the second round was much better as McCarthy hung back and landed two good combinations. The Moldovan knew that he needed to up his intensity to beat his opponent and came out bristling in Round Three.
He pressed McCarthy for space and took away three points in less than five seconds when he unloaded a rapid combination that had McCarthy reeling. There were no complaints from McCarthy or his camp as he congratulated the victorious Cheles.
