FRANCIS BARRETT'S challenge for the Olympic light welterweight title is up an running after a remarkable performances of non-stop punching brought his Brazilian opponent Zely Ferreria to heel in Atlanta last night.

Barrett, a member of the travelling community from Galway, found inspiration to out point Ferreria as decisively as the 32-7 margin indicated.

It was one of the biggest wins " the championships to date and's the crowd roared their appreciation as the Irishman, mixing the inspirational with the unconventional, took Ferreria apart.

Twice in the opening round the Nigerian referee was forced to give the Brazilian standing counts and, had his punching been marginally sharper, it is possible that the contest could have been all over by the middle of the second" round.

At that point Barrett was 14-2 ahead and stretching his advantage with almost every passing second. and The longer it went on, the more desperate became the plight of the hapless loser.

Ferreria, like Barrett, a 19 year old, took up boxing only three years ago and there were many occasions last evening when he may have secretly wished that he hadn't done so.

Barrett, a miniature pocket battleship, was in no mood for niceties as he waded into his man with all guns blazing straight from the bell. At different times, he was cautioned by the referee for holding, pushing, using his elbow, slapping and hitting low.

On occasions, it appeared to annoy the referee as much as it baffled the bewildered Brazilian. But, in between, the fiery Galway man produced a lot of good boxing in this all southpaw duel.

Never one to stand off and jab, he made his intentions clear from the outset, catching his man with cluster of punches which had him five nil in front after only 20 seconds.

Ferreria, taller by two inches, but unable to keep out the man who stalked him so persistently, was counted for the first time after stopping a left hook with his chin as Barrett chased him into a neutral corner.

That was ominous for Ferreria and he knew that he was in for a rough evening after the Irishman had again tested the strength of his jaw, this time with a left right combination.

Once more the overworked referee separated them to give Ferreria a count, but he held his nerve and composure sufficiently well to stay erect until the end of the round, at which point he was behind by than 11 points.

Given the eccentricities of the computer system it was a remarkable scoring rate and, as Barrett continued to roll in with both arms working like pistons, the tally continued to rise. Ferreria, more out of frustration than malice one suspected, hit his opponent on the back of his neck as he turned away on the ropes. Far from hurting Barrett, it merely had the effect of persuading him to fire still more leather at the unfortunate Brazilian.

By the end of round two, the gap had expanded to 24-4 and the crowd, warming to the Irishman's unorthodox style, cheered every scoring punch as he continued his onslaught.

The crowd, by now in a state of some frenzy, cheered every time Ferreria's head was rocked backwards and already Barrett, appears to have won them over. Whether in fact he can take this kind of form into his next bout is uncertain but one thing's for sure, there will be few better crowd pleasers in the boxing arena over the next days than the man who has brought a new level of excitement to the Irish scene.

Afterwards Bilrrett, one of 12 children, was suitably pleased with his performance. "Its great to have got through my first fight and I think I boxed very well on the night," he said. He caught me with a couple of good shots but none of them really hurt me."

Asked why he had not eased off in the last round, at a stage when he was clearly out of reach of the Brazilian, he said I didn't know I was that far ahead. With the computer way of scoring you can never be sure. Anyway that's my style of boxing.

"I boxed like that in the national championships and it was the same when I fought in the European championships. That's the only way I know how and I am happy to stay with it."

Micky Hawkins, who was in Barrett's corner, said I could have told him to cut back in the last round but I knew I would be wasting my time.