Olympics - Boxing: Three Irish boxers are now just eight minutes away from an Olympic medal after Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes joined team captain Kenny Egan in the quarter-finals at the Workers' Gymnasium. Sutherland stopped Nabil Kassel in a punishing victory while Barnes outclassed Jose Luis Meza.
Sutherland was first in action this morning and overcame Algeria's Kassel in a punishing contest to set up a meeting with Alfonso Blanco Parra in the middleweight last eight. The winner of that clash will be guaranteed a bronze medal at least.
Having received a bye to the second round, this was Sutherland's first bout of the Beijing Games and a typically sluggish start saw him trail 3-0 after just 30 seconds.
But once the 26-year-old found his range Kassel's lead quickly evaporated as Sutherland landed a series of crushing left hooks, one of which landed his opponent on his backside before the round finished 4-4.
It became apparent in the second that neither fighter was afraid to stand and trade blows and the aggressive nature was reflected on the scoreboard, Kassel's quicker hands helping him edge into the lead at 10-9.
Sutherland, however, was landing the more telling shots and regained the lead (14-13) going into the last. And, unsurprisingly, the constant barrage began to tell in the final round as the Irishman unloaded on his opponent.
With Kassel clearly dazed and confused, Sutherland extended his lead to 21-14 before the referee belatedly stepped in to end the contest.
Afterwards Sutherland revealed his long wait in the Olympic Village had helped him get over the star-struck early days and get down to business.
Sutherland said: "It dragged and the aura of the Olympic Village died out. You had Tyson Gay or Rafael Nadal walking past you but you just thought, so what, I'm here to do a job.
"It was a tough and entertaining fight. I'm never in a dull fight. There was never a period where I was trying to protect my lead. I'm always going to fight right to the end."
Flyweight Barnes had also received a bye in the first round and a tentative opening saw him trail 3-2 after the first round. But a whitewash (4-0) in the second was a just reward for Barnes' all-action style as he harried Meza around the ring.
Meza held his own in the penultimate before Barnes opened with a flurry of points in the last to seal a 14-8 success.