Amir Khan tonight secured another Olympic medal for Great Britain by stopping Jong Sub Baik, of South Korea, in the first round.
The 17-year-old student of sports development at Bolton will take home at least a bronze medal after powering his way to a semi-final place. But he will now be looking to make the gold medal bout on Sunday after dismantling his opponent in one minute and 37 seconds.
Khan looked sharp from the outset, moving out of the way of his opponent’s wild swings before firing back his own heavy shots. He knocked down his opponent early and continued the assault once the referee had stopped counting. Baik looked in a daze and the referee gave him a standing eight count before deciding he could not continue.
After the match, Khan said: “He’s a strong lad and once I caught him I knew.
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“Everyone here that has come here, everyone here has come to see me on the podium and I’m going to show them I’m the best in the world.
“I’ve got a medal in my pocket and no one can take that away from me.”
Khan said afterwards: “I didn’t expect to beat him that quickly but I was confident I could beat him. I knew he had slow feet and slow hands and I used that to my advantage.
“It’s a great achievement for me to win a medal. Now I’ve got that bronze medal the pressure is off me a bit now.
“I think I can go in the ring more relaxed and more calm and get even better. I’m happy to win a medal but hopefully I can go on to make the final.”
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British boxing coach Terry Edwards said: “I think the bout against Stilianov was amazing. Tonight wasn’t such an amazing thing, I think style-wise the Korean was made for him really.
“He had slow feet, slow hands, and Amir’s got fast hands and fast feet.
“I felt very confident the end would come, but I didn’t expect it in the first round.”
Khan’s semi-final opponent on Friday night will be Serik Yeleuov, of Kazakhstan, who was too strong for Domenico Valentino, of Italy, in the previous bout. Yeleuov is a compact southpaw with a sharp jab that he uses to set up the long straight left over the top.
Valentino upped the tempo in the second half of the fight after falling behind, but his opponent was able to land too many clean shots and clinched a 29-23 points decision.
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Meanwhile, boxing promoter Frank Warren said that Khan has the ability to become a world champion.
“It was a fantastic performance,” said the boxing promoter, who has managed an array of legendary fighters including Frank Bruno, Naseem Hamed and Nigel Benn.
“I can’t get over the fact that he is 17 years of age. I can’t imagine what he’s going to be like when he gets older.”
Asked if the teenager could go all the way in the tournament, Warren said: “He certainly looks like it at the moment.
“He could very well become one of our youngest Olympic gold medallists, without a doubt.
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“He has got so much natural talent. Fighters like this come along once in a lifetime. He looks sensational now and he can only get better as he gets older.”
Warren said he stood comparison with Hamed, but that even he had not achieved as much when he was the same age.
He said: “This lad is 17 and beating men, seasoned amateurs.”
Asked if he thought he could turn professional, Warren said: “I think he certainly has that potential. He has obviously got the natural ability and desire to win. There are professional fighters now that I think he could beat.
“If he turns pro I think he could win the world title at a young age, no doubt about that.”
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The promoter added: “Most good fighters, if they go all the way, can make millions. It all depends if he is a big attraction and those sort of things.
“There have been fighters who have won gold medals, but just didn’t cut it as pro, but I think this lad has the potential to do well.
“He could certainly secure his family for the future. He is a young lad and he has got the world at his feet at the moment.”
Asked if Khan could become a multi-millionaire, Warren sounded a note of caution.
He said: “He could do, but you have got to dedicate yourself. A boxer’s life is quite a lonely life.
“But he has the potential to do those things, no doubt about that.”