STEPHEN Donnelly believes his best is yet to come at the Rio Olympics.
The Ballymena BC welter weight meets Tuvshinbat Byamba of Mongolia at approximately 4:45pm today for a place in the last-eight which would leave him within striking distance of at least bronze.
Morocco’s current World Elite champion Mohammed Rabbi, the No. 1 seed in the 69kg class, faces Kenya’s Nduku Okwiri this afternoon in the corresponding last 16 bout.
Donnelly convincingly beat Zahir Kedache of Algeria on a unanimous decision last Sunday to get Ireland off to a winning start. David Oliver Joyce had his hand raised in victory on the same day.
But Paddy Barnes and Joyce have since exited on unanimous decisions and Michael O’Reilly has been sent home after admitting to have inadvertently taken a prohibited substance.
Donnelly, who qualified for Rio through the World Series of Boxing, impressed in his maiden Olympic fight versus Kedache and is relishing the prospect of today’s 69kg three-rounder.
He said: “I’ll get better at these Olympics, I know I will. It was great to get the first one out of the way, get three good rounds under the belt and come away with the win.
“I’m over the moon with the performance and the sharpness will come in the next fight. It’s only the start of the journey and it’s the best feeling ever.”
Byamba, however, is a vastly experienced opponent. The 29-year-old, who began boxing in 1998, scored a 30-27,30-27,29-28 win over Argentina’s Ignacio Palmeta last weekend in Rio in his 403rd amateur outing.
The London 2012 Olympian qualified for the 31st Olympiad after finishing in third spot following a box-off victory at the Asian and Oceania qualifiers in China earlier this year.
Byamba won his first fight at London 2012 but went out in the last 16. Donnelly added: “Nothing can be taken for granted and as you advance in a tournament like this it gets tougher, but we will have our homework done.”
Meanwhile, Armenia’s two-time European Elite bronze medallist Aram Avagyan beat Arashi Mariska of Japan on a split yesterday to set up Sunday’s last 16 showdown with Belfast’s Michael Conlan, the current World Elite champion and the No. 1 seed in the bantamweight class in Rio.
Ayagyan booked a ticket for the 31st Olympiad through the European qualifiers in Turkey earlier this year after winning a 3rd place box-off. Brendan Irvine meets Uzbek flyweight Shakhobidin Zoirov in the last-32 on Saturday seven days after boxing began at the 9,000 capacity Pavilion 6 venue.
Olympic lightweight champion Katie Taylor, like Conlan a No. 1 seed at the Games, received a bye into the quarter-finals and awaits the winner of Friday’s meeting between Finland’s Mira Potkonen and Brazil’s Adriana Araujo, who received a host place entry for Rio.
The 60kg bout is scheduled for Monday. If Taylor wins she will be guaranteed a second successive Olympic medal but could face Azerbaijan’s Yana Alexseevna, who beat the Bray woman earlier this year, in the last-four.
