Harry Garside’s hopes of winning Australia’s first Olympic boxing gold medal are over with a heart-breaking shock loss in his first outing in Paris.
A lightweight bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, the 27-year-old Victorian fell to Hungarian Richard Kovacs by unanimous decision in their round of 16 clash.
After a first-round bye the 27-year-old Garside started brightly, bouncing around the ring as he showed off his trademark footwork, and won the first round 3-2.
But the awkward Hungarian, a five-time national champion, tried to antagonise the Australian, coming forward with his hands down and his tongue out.
He got the better of Garside in the second round, scored 5-0, with the Australian unable to land enough scoring shots.
The fifth seed in the 63.5kg division, Garside needed to find something special in the third round but again fell short, with another 5-0 round going to Kovacs.
Australian gold medal hope Harry Garside (left) is out of the Olympics after losing in the round of 16 to Richard Kovacs of Hungary
The boxer had high hopes after winning bronze in Tokyo in 2021 but fell at the first hurdle in Paris
Garside, 27, cut a dejected figure after the bout, looking emotional as Kovac celebrated his victory
More to come
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