AN Olympic medal winning boxer tipped for professional stardom has been found hanged at his home.

AN Olympic medal winning boxer tipped for professional stardom has been found hanged at his home.

Darren Sutherland, 27, who won middleweight bronze for Ireland at the Beijing Games last year before turning professional, was found hanged in his south London flat yesterday.

The 27-year-old Dubliner turned pro following his Beijing success.

Under promoter Frank Maloney's guidance and based in London, Sutherland was undefeated and looked set for a hugely successful career.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said Sutherland was pronounced dead just after 3pm yesterday after being found by Maloney in his flat in Bromley.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

English boxing star James DeGale, who beat Sutherland on the way to his gold medal at the Beijing Games, said: “He was a brilliant fighter, in fact an excellent fighter, and he was a gentleman outside the ring as well.

“He had an Olympic bronze medal and his whole life to look forward to. He had a great future and my heart goes out to everyone who knew him.”