Gallagher through to the last eight in Bulgaria

Jude Gallagher is through to the lightweight quarter-finals at the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria.

The County Tyrone man scored a third-round stoppage against France’s Lounes Hamraoi for his second victory of the tournament.

Gallagher was down on four cards after the first round, but stepped it up in the second and third, forcing standing counts before the contest was waved off.

Gallagher will now look forward to a quarter-final on Wednesday when he takes on Cuban-born Spanish boxer, Ewart Andrés Marín Hernández.

“I tried to box him in the first round,” Gallagher told Boxing Ireland after his win.

“He was a counter-puncher, southpaw, and just edged me in the first round when I was a bit slow.

“I had to change the tactics in the second round and bring the fight to him, hurt him with a body shot, [forced] a count in the second and finished him in the third, so I’m delighted.”

It wasn’t to be for Team Ireland’s Kellie McLoughlin in her last 16 bout at lightweight.

The Dubliner – who was a late replacement for the injured Kellie Harrington – lost out on a 4-1 split decision to France’s Sthélyne Grosy.