By Paddy Appleton

Paddy Barnes senior is flabbergasted that the Barnes family can’t even buy tickets to watch his son Paddy in action this summer at the London Olympics.

There was a furore over Olympics tickets long before they ever went on sale, but now one of our own boxers face an anxious wait to see whether family and friends will be ringside in London to cheer them on.

Barnes sr. is not looking for free tickets or amenities, he just wants the chance to purchase some so that he and others can go and watch Paddy in action, but it is proving more difficult than first thought.

He has had to go as far afield as Belgium to source tickets, and his son Paddy is anxious that fiancée Mari gets a ticket as he has never lost a fight with her by his side.

“It is true. He has never lost a fight when she’s been there,” said Barnes sr. “In Beijing little did I know that she’d left to go to her sister’s wedding at the semi-final;  lo and behold he lost, but it’ll not happen this time that’s for sure.”

Barnes sr. hopes that the issue can be sorted as soon as possible, otherwise he is adamant that it is Paddy’s mother and Mari who will be cheering him on at ringside whilst his father will have to make do with a television set at home.

“I’ll let the wife and his bride-to-be go, of course. No-one is asking for anything for nothing; we’re just asking to have tickets that we can pay for so we can go and watch the boy box.”

A frustrated Barnes sr. continued: “It’s plain and simple. Nobody’s asking for any freebies here, in Beijing the boxers had the opportunity to purchase tickets and if they wanted them they could have them and if they didn’t it was grand. I don’t understand why this is any different, it doesn’t make sense.”