Kellie Harrington will become the first Irish boxer to contest two Olympic finals after she earned a 4-1 split decision win over Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira in a thrilling semi-final at the North Paris Arena on Saturday night.
Ferreira, who Harrington beat in the final three years ago in Tokyo, apologised to Brazil on television afterwards, stating her aim was to win the gold medal in Paris before leaving amateur boxing. She had five professional fights and has won all of them, two by TKO.
But Harrington, as she has been since her first bout, kept her composure and superior boxing skills to avoid the swinging fists of her opponent and win over the judges for the chance to defend her lightweight gold medal.
Harrington knew what she was facing. Any boxer who goes by the name “The Beast” usually lives up to the name and the 31-year-old Brazilian armed forces athlete came out punching as she had in Tokyo.
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But Harrington had her left jab working from the bell and was landing the cleaner points-scoring shots. As the crowd sang ole ole ole, Harrington cleverly fought from a distance, her opponent yearning for engagement.
The five judges had the Irish 34-year-old ahead after the first three minutes, four of them going with her and just one against. That gave Harrington a terrific lead but forced Ferriera to be more aggressive in the second round.
The two exchanged a barrage of punches but Harrington wasn’t as precise as she was in the first and the round slipped away 3-2.
That gave confidence to the Brazilian but Harrington showed her class and returned to the jab and backhand raids before stepping away out of distance.
Ferriera was the more aggressive but many of her swinging attacks caught little but thin air. In the end all five judges saw it as a Harrington win in the third round, the Dubliner falling to her knees and hitting the canvas with her hands in delight.
Reacting after her fight on RTÉ, Harrington said: “I actually have no words, for a change I’m speechless. It’s not often you get that. I just can’t believe that happened again.
“I thought she was just going to rush at me, I think she tried to outbox me, but I felt good, I felt happy.
“At one stage she hit me with her head and I genuinely thought my tooth was after coming out, but they’re still there, thank God.
“She’s an incredible fighter, she’s a pro now. I’m not looking at anything other than embracing the moment and enjoying it. As long as I get out of the ring and I’m happy, that’s all that matters. It’s only a sport, at the end of the day, that’s all it is. It doesn’t define me as a person, I’m still Kellie Harrington.
“Whether I win or I lose [in the final], I’m going to go home to a great family, and an absolutely brilliant community, and I know they’re all super proud of me whether I win or lose, they’re part of me and I’m part of them.”
Speaking at her press conference, Harrington again praised her opponent.
“It feels fantastic to get that fight out of the way because Bea is a fantastic opponent and since Tokyo she’s gone on to do great things in the professional ranks,” said Harrington, who will meet China’s Wenlu Yang on Tuesday night in Roland Garros as the boxing moves from its current location in the North Paris Arena to the tennis stadium.
“I felt like I was the underdog in there today and I knew she had a point to prove. All anyone’s been talking about is you’re going to meet Beatriz but it might never have happened. But it has happened and thankfully it turned out the way it did.”
Stuck in the mechanics of winning and putting herself in the position of following Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in successfully defending her Olympic title, Harrington said she enjoyed the fight more than the Tokyo final but didn’t know if it was better.
“I’ve no idea but I enjoyed it more than Tokyo that’s for sure. I just feel happy and I think the happiness is because I’m coming to the end of the road and I just know there’s life at the end of the tunnel,” she said
“I have no idea what it is or anything like that,” she said of the famous tennis venue which hosts the Frencc Open, one of the four tennis Grand Slams, every year. “To me it’ll just be another arena and another opponent and whatever will be, will be. I just want to be happy and stay happy.”
