Grainne Walsh ends World Boxing Championships journey with bronze after semi-final defeat

Gráinne Walsh has won a bronze medal at the 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after losing her 65 kg semi-final match to Aida Abikeyeva of Kazakhstan. Despite the valiant effort, she could not dislodge the tactical strength of Abikeyeva across three rounds, and in the end, all the judges gave their cards unanimously.

Although Walsh had his usual lively and aggressive front-foot approach, the gap could not be closed as Abikeyeva landed the more telling and scoring counter shots from distance.

How Gráinne Walsh's semi-final bout unfolded

Gráinne Walsh came out firing from the get-go, stepping forward, looking to put the pressure on. Inside, she connected with combinations and looping overhands that made Aida Abikeyeva wobbly. For her part, Abikeyeva stayed calm, maintaining Walsh at bay with a rigid left jab thrown at a distance and accommodating spread measures.

It was a second-round turning point. Abikeyeva started to establish a rhythm of her own, started to find Walsh with straight shots and counters, which often occurred as Walsh closed the distance. This increasing control was reflected on the cards of the judges, too: the Kazakh boxer won each of the final seven rounds on the scorecards.Walsh was able to land her heaviest shots in the final round, flaring that strength and aggressiveness to keep coming forward.

But the deficit from the previous rounds was just too big to bounce back from. Walsh lost four of the five rounds, though two judges only had Walsh up one round in the last stanza, in which the Russian was fighting for dear life; that meant a unanimous decision for Abikeyeva.Also Read: 'Boxing is always bigger': Canelo Alvarez takes a jab at MMA in heated debate with Max Kellerman

Gráinne Walsh's impressive journey to the semi-final

Gráinne Walsh’s road to the semi-final was quite impressive. Earlier, she beat China's one-time World Championship silver medallist Yang Liu, and one of the strong contenders for the 2024 Olympic Games, closely, 3-2.

She also won by unanimous decisions in earlier rounds, demonstrating her skills in both close battles and more decisive contests.

This bronze marks Walsh's top amateur performance on the world stage. It joins her resume that includes Paris Olympic qualification and European Games bronze from 2019.Walsh is not the only Irish athlete bringing medal glory at these championships. Her teammates Aoife O’Rourke and Patsy Joyce are also assured at least bronze with semi-final spots in their respective weights.