David Oliver Joyce books Rio berth; Katie Taylor wins box off

By Peter Gilbert

Image: David Oliver Joyce has qualified for the Olympics at the third attempt

David Oliver Joyce became the sixth Irish boxer to qualify for this summer's Olympics after winning bronze at the European qualifying tournament in Turkey.

Joyce, who missed out on qualification for both the 2008 and 2012 games, finished strongly to win a terrific contest against home favourite Volkan Gokcek and claim a split decision victory.

The lightweight had been forced into the box-off after losing his semi-final to Great Britain's Joe Cordina on Friday, and despite evident signs of wear and tear he set a fast enough pace to repel his opponent.

Joyce follows flyweight Brendan Irvine, who booked his place in Rio with a win on Saturday, and the duo join pre-qualified quartet Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward.

Image: Ireland's Katie Taylor returned to winning ways after Friday's shock defeat

Ireland's Olympic lightweight champion Katie Taylor bounced back from her first defeat in five years by defeating Bulgarian Svetlana Staneva in a box off for third place.

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Taylor, whose run of 62 wins was ended by Azerbaijani Yana Alekseevna on Friday, will get another chance to qualify for Rio at next month's World Championships in Kazakhstan.

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The Bray boxer needs to reach the semi-finals in Astana if she hopes to defend her 60kg title won at London 2012.

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