Kellie Harrington made a triumphant entry into two Olympic boxing finals, an unprecedented feat for an Irish woman. Her victory came in the form of a 4-1 split decision over Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira in a high-octane semi-final bout at the North Paris Arena on Saturday night.
Three years ago, Harrington had defeated Ferreira in the Tokyo finals, causing Ferreira to make a public apology to her compatriots. Despite having five professional victories to her credit, two of which were total knockouts, it was the gold medal in Paris that Ferreira aspired to secure before bidding goodbye to her amateur boxing career.
However, Harrington kept cool and utilised her excellent boxing skills to evade the aggressive onslaught of Ferreira’s punches and secured favour from the judges to vie for her lightweight gold medal defence.
The 34-year-old Irish boxer achieved a strategic advantage over the 31-year-old Brazilian, who lived up to her intimidating moniker of “The Beast”. Harrington managed her assault from a safe distance, smartly dodging her fiery opponent’s eager attempts to engage.
After the first three minutes, Harrington held a substantial lead with four judges backing her, and only one opposed. This early dominance forced Ferreira to adopt a fiercer approach in the second round.
Although her precision took a hit during the second round, Harrington regained her upper hand with more effective punches, while her Brazilian opponent’s violent barrage mostly landed on empty air. By the third round, Harrington had resoundingly won over all five judges. Overjoyed, she dropped to her knees, striking the canvas in elation.
Harrington now moves on to her next challenge, a face-off with Wenlu Yang of China in the final round on Tuesday night. This concluding fight will take place in a new venue – the Roland Garros tennis stadium.