Ireland’s Sean McComb has bowed out of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Hamburg after a unanimous 5-0 loss to number two seed, Andy Cruz Gomez in the light welterweight category.

The Belfast southpaw had defeated Brazilian Joedison De Jesus on Friday and was sporting a nick on his right eyelid as a result of a clash of heads in that contest.

However, he still fashioned a brave performance against the highly rated Cuban, who qualified but didn’t box in last year’s Olympics.

After a relatively cagey opening round the Cuban controlled the second round and momentarily forced McComb to stumble back on the ropes. He recovered well and looked to have landed scoring punches with greater frequency in the final round.

But it was Gomez’s controlled performance which caught the eye of the judges, though they were a bit harsh on McComb.

The three judges scored the fight 30-26 in favour of the Cuban – meaning they gave him one of the rounds 10-8, while the other two scored it 30-27 for Gomez.

There was no doubting the class of Gomez who qualified for Rio, but Cuba opted to send Robeisy Ramirez instead – he had also qualified in the 56kg division – and he justified the decision when he secured the gold medal.

Gomez, meanwhile, has moved up two weights to the 64kg light welterweight division and looks likely to finish on the podium in Hamburg.

Ireland’s two seeded fighters, European champion Joe Ward and Brendan Irvine – who received byes to the last 16 – will be in action on Monday.

In the light heavyweight class, Ward faces Lago Kizira from Georgia while Irvine fights Korean Inkyu Kim for a place in the quarter finals.

Super heavyweight Dean Gardiner will also bid for a place in the last eight, though he faces an uphill battle against the number four seed, Cristian Salcedo from Columbia.