Egan is last-man standing for Ireland
BEIJING (Reuters) - Kenny Egan gave the Irish band at the Beijing Workers Stadium something to finally cheer about on Friday when he defeated Briton Tony Jeffries to reach the Olympics light-heavyweight boxing final.
Egan was loudly backed by a couple of hundred Irish supporters as he outpointed Jeffries 10-3 in a one-sided bout after his compatriots Paddy Barnes and John Darren Sutherland bowed out earlier on Friday.
"It's nice to be the last man standing," said Egan, who will face China's Zhang Xiaoping with a gold medal at stake on Sunday.
"Now I'll have to wear sunglasses to go buy my paper," he added in a laughter.
Ireland coach Billy Walsh showed great relief after Egan's win. "That was a happy end," he said. "I'm happy with the way he has performed, he has been very focused, he is a survivor.
"He has absolutely no pressure on him anymore."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Jeremy Laurence)
