By PA Sport Staff

Cork's Michael Roche was conclusively beaten in the first qualifying round of the light-middleweight division at the Olympic boxing tournament - and had no complaints about the result.

Roche was beaten 17-4 by Turkey's Firat Karagollu in a fight in which the Irishman never got into gear.

The scoring of the ringside judges was accurate in every way as Roche failed miserably to make any kind of impression.

Roche was the only Irish boxer at the Olympics and had the largest support in the hall but gave a disappointing show.

The 29 year-old southpaw was obviously out of his class even in the first round when he found himself trailing 7-1.

Following the impressive start Karagollu, who won the world junior title in 1996, was able to coast home to an easy success.

Such was the ease of his win was the fact that Roche failed to produce a single scoring punch in the fourth and final round.

But Roche had no excuses. The Irishman said: "He was the better man.

"With the crowd behind me I was fully confident. But he was the better boxer. I was not good enough.

"It's a pity after all the training I have put in that I should lose in this way.

"The first round scoring surprised me and that put me at a distinct disadvantage. I was up for the fight but that is the way it goes. He was an experienced fighter and the only time he troubled me was in the first round with a straight left."