Conlan breezes through the first round

Ireland's Olympic bronze medal winner at London 2012, Michael Conlan, won the first of his fights in the Commonwealth Games.

The Belfast bantamweight forced Mathew Martin from Nauru to take two standing counts in the second round on his way to winning his opening bout unanimously.

The three judges scored the fight 3-26, 3-26, 30-25 in favour of the Irishman. Currently ranked number two in the world at bantamweight, the 22-year-old has already said that anything short of a gold medal in Glasgow would represent failure.

There was one minor concern about the dominant Conlan in that he sustained a cut to his scalp, following an accidental clash of heads. While the referee stopped the bout as his corner attended to the cut, it did not cause any problems throughout the closing stages.

Conlan later tweeted: “That’s the first out of the way. Thanks everyone for the support amazing always, cuts all good just one top of the head no problems.”

He added: . “I was fully in control and felt happy with my performance. I’m looking forward to the next fight. It’s going to be a tough one,” said the boxing star.

“It’s against an Indian who is the world’s number 3 and I’m the number 2. It’s a finals kind of fight and one I’m definitely going to have to win and be in the best form,” added Conlan.

Paddy Barnes, the defending champion in the light flyweight division from New Delhi in 2010 and the only Irish boxer to medal twice at the Olympic Games, meets Hamadi Omori Furahisha from the United Republic of Tanzania on Monday.