BRIAN MAGEE is through to the last eight in the Olympic middleweight boxing championship after digging his way out of a bad start to beat Bertrand Tetsia of Cameroon on an 11-6 points decision last night in the Olympic boxing stadium.
He now goes in against Mohammed Bahari, a compact Algerian who showed himself to be a resourceful campaigner when wearing down his opponent Marcus Thomas of Barbados.
Just as in his earlier bout against Randall Thompson, Magee required some time to get his southpaw jab working efficiently and was adjudged to have lost the opening round 3-1.
That, in a sense, was a travesty for, while the Irishman experienced a lot of problems in making contact with his opponent's head, he punished him occasionally around the body.
It was not until midway through the second round that he eventually found a way through his opponent's peek a boo defence. Then, for the first time he began to jolt Tetsia's head on his shoulders, and two good southpaw lefts levelled the scores at 3-3 before he edged ahead with an accurate right high up.
Tetsia, hadn't landed a punch of note in the round until suddenly he loosed two good right hands to go back into a 5-4 lead and it was late in the round before the Irishman levelled with a looping left cross.
It was all down then to the man who stayed the distance better and in the event it was Magee who carried the greater reserves of strength and resilience in the third round.
A series of accurate jabs found their target and as the tide began I turn against him, so Tetsia became more desperate to land a decisive punch.
Afterwards, he was suitably satisfied with his performance. "Some of my early shots were off target, but once I found the range, I knew that I would be back in the stadium next week to box again," said Magee.
"Tetsia wasn't the easiest man to catch and it was not until he tired and began to drop his hands that I eventually succeeded in putting, the fight beyond his reach.
Magee added. "I'm now just one fight away from a medal and to get a medal would be a dream come true.
