Olympic Boxing:Belfast's Michael Conlan showed what all the fuss was about this evening, with a commanding win over Ghana's Duke Micah, but Adam Nolan's Olympic Games are over after defeat to Russian Andrey Zamkovoy.
Conlan, the youngest member of the Irish team has been lauded by many as the prospect of the Games and on his Olympic debut he didn’t disappoint, winning by a convincing scoreline of 19-8 in the last 16 of the flyweight division.
The 20-year-old from St John Bosco is now into the quarter-finals and one win away from a medal. France's Nordine Ouballi will stand in his way after a 19-18 win over America's Raushee Warren. Conlan has beaten him twice but the Frenchman is a dangerous opponent with a big right hook.
Conlan’s movement had Micah guessing for the entire nine minutes and the Irishman was accurate with his punches as well.
After feeling his way into the first round, and missing with some rights over the top, Conlan found his range and took a 5-2 lead at the first bell.
The second and third rounds were each won 7-3, as Micah chased the fight and Conlan tagged him almost at will, while using his swift footwork to stay out of danger.
Bray garda Nolan was up against a powerful Russian welterweight in Zamkovoy and lacked the experience of the world number 14.
It was a brave effort from the Wexford man, but after a tight round Zamkovoy pulled away to win 18-9, forcing Nolan to take a standing eight count in the last round.