Next summer, Paddy Barnes will be making his third Olympics appearance, after winning medals in the last two, while his friend and fellow Irish boxer Michael Conlan returns for the second time after winning bronze at London 2012.
Both fighters secured their qualification spots for Rio 2016 over the weekend and tonight the Belfast lads joined us on Off The Ball to talk about the achievement.
Conlan route to Rio was far more tricky than Barnes and was even reluctant to go through with his crucial fight as he needed other pieces to fall in his place.
"There were a number of people who talked me round. My brother and girlfriend was talking to me, saying I got to do it for my kid," he said.
Conlan and Barnes after London 2012 ©INPHO/Presseye/Kelvin Boyes
The duo also talked about the pros and cons of fighting in the World Series of Boxing, especially with the "tough" travel commitments.
Barnes also spoke about the sacrifice they made by going down the WSB route.
"The only thing that me and Michael done the WSB for was the Olympic spot. The sacrifice was the Irish championships because I had a good record going in it. I could have gone to eight titles in a row but I chose not to in order to try and qualify for the games. Me and Michael Conlan are the only two boxers in the entire WSB in the whole world who weren't getting paid. We sacrificed the money in order for the Italians (Italia Thunder team) to give us a first team place," he said.
The 28-year-old is also confident of going from bronze medals in Beijing and London to gold in Rio next year, while Conlan is also expectant that he and Barnes can both reach the top of the podium.
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