While James DeGale boxed his way to the Olympic final, David Price and Tony Jeffries will have to be content with bronze medals as they were both beaten on a rough night for the British boxers at the Workers’ Gymnasium. Price, the super-heavyweight, was stopped in the second round by Roberto Cammarelle, the world champion from Italy, while Jeffries, the light-heavyweight, lost 10-3 to Kenny Egan, of Ireland.

Price looked relaxed entering the ring, but had a disastrous first round. He found it difficult to land his jab and was caught twice by hard right hooks, the first time receiving a standing count.

He trailed 5-0 at the end of the first round and tried to punch his way out of trouble in the second. He landed two good rights, knocking the Italian’s head back with one, although neither was scored by the judges. He was then again caught by a powerful Cammarelle right hook, which made Price dip against the second rope. The referee signalled a second standing count but then stopped the bout with 50 seconds remaining of the round.

“I just feel like all the good work I’ve put in has gone down the pan with that performance,” Price said. “I think he caught me cold in the first, he was one sharp bas****, but the tactics didn’t go the way I thought. We thought he was going to box on the back foot, but he surprised me and came at me. Credit to him, the best man won on the night.

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“It’s been a fantastic journey the way things have worked out up until today. I’ll have to sit down and have a think, because I’ve got to be proud of myself for winning a medal at the Olympics.

“I’m disappointed with my performance. I expected to go in and dominate him and it just didn’t happen. I might have even under-estimated him, even though he is a world champion.”

Jeffries always faced a tough task against Egan. The Irishman had beaten him at the European Union Championships final in Poland in June, when he was stopped on a cut. Egan had also been hugely impressive so far in the tournament, winning three bouts for the loss of only four points.

The first round ended level at 1-1, Jeffries doing well to stay clear of Egan’s straight left while remaining positive. But in a scrappy second round, the Irishman pulled into a 4-1 lead, by virtue of being the busier and extended it to 8-1 in the third when Jeffries seemed short on ideas of how to change the flow of the bout.

Jeffries got stuck more in in the fourth, landing a couple of clubbing hooks, but Egan ran out a comfortable winner.

“I’m devastated,” Jeffries said. “Kenny boxed well, he was sharp and beat me fair and square.

“I thought before to come away with a medal I’d be happy, but I feel like I’ve let Sunderland down because they wanted us to win so much.”