Boxing: Ireland's Olympic bronze medallist Darren Sutherland made the perfect start to his professional career with a convincing first round knockout win against Bulgaria's Georgi Iliev at DCU this evening.
"In the dressing room I felt naked without the headgear," said the Dublin boxer, referring to his days in the amateur ranks and the need for protective gear.
"It felt good out there. I was maybe a little disappointed I didn't get more rounds under my belt and I took a couple of silly jabs."
His Bulgarian opponent was seen as something of a whipping boy to ease Sutherland into his professional career. The 26-year-old certainly gave the 1,400 strong crowd, many of whom were his old student friends, plenty to cheer about.
At the opening bell Iliev came out all guns blazing and attempted another knockout to replicate his only other win. But Iliev had lost four of his last five fights and, in truth, was no match for Sutherland's superior firepower.
The home favourite kept his patience, found his range and landed head shots and body blows that the Bulgarian simply couldn't cope with.
In the end Iliev cut easily and the referee was left with no option but to step in and stop the fight with two minutes 44 seconds gone in the first.
"My objective is to improve with every fight," added Sutherland. "This is my first professional fight and there was a lot to take in, but we'll step it up from here.
"People ask me what I want for Christmas, this is it right here, I love getting into the ring and fighting."
Sutherland's promoter Frank Moloney was equally pleased with what he saw from his latest prodigy. The promoter confirmed Sutherland's next outing is set for an undercard bout on March 6th.