Conor Wallace’s World University Championships dreams cut short
Ireland’s campaign at the World University Championships in Thailand got off to a rocky start this morning with the elimination of middleweight Conor Wallace.
The Newry southpaw was forced to retire at the end of the second round of his Last 16 clash with Ukrainian Valerii Kharlamov.
Wallace began brilliantly, flooring his opponent in the opening stanza with a big left and taking the lead on the scorecards. Disaster would then strike in Chaing Mai as Wallace suffered a nasty cut over his eye, seemingly via a clash of heads.
With the scores level, Wallace and his team brought a halt to the bout at the end of the second round to prevent any irreparable damage being inflicted and therefore a technical knock-out win was awarded to Kharlamov.
Kharlamov, who was defeated in the World Championships last year by Michael O’Reilly, now progresses to face Taiwan’s Chin Ah-Yeh in the quarter finals with a guaranteed bronze medal at stake.
Wallace can count himself very unlucky, as had the referee and ringside doctor stopped the boutĀ during the second roundĀ rather than he and his team at the end of the round, Wallace would have been awarded the win on the scored-cards via technical decision. Nevertheless, due to the severity and placement of the gash, Wallace’s participation in the quarter finals would have been unlikely.
