Katie Taylor sensationally lost to Azerbaijani Yana Alekseevna in the semi-final of the European qualification for Rio this afternoon. All three judges gave the fight to her opponent.
Alekseevna progresses to the Olympics automatically.
Taylor has one route left for Olympic qualification. She will take part in a third-place box-off on Sunday but the IABA have confirmed that even if Taylor wins she won't secure Olympic qualification.
Otherwise, she needs to reach the semi-finals of the World Boxing Championships in Astana in May to make sure of qualification.
It is her first loss since 2011. And even that defeat, against Bulgaria's Denitsa Eliseeva in Bulgaria, was a controversial one. The ringside referee was so stunned at the decision of the judges that he was midway through raising Taylor's hand when Eliseeva was pronounced the winner.
She has won 62 fights on the trot in the intervening years. Of all her rivals, Alekseevna is the one who has come closest to beating her before today. Taylor scraped by the Azerbaijani in the semi-final in the European Games in Baku last year, winning on a split decision.
It is noteworthy that she fought without her father Pete Taylor in her corner.
