Olympics: British boxer Ogogo dedicates win to stricken mum

LONDON: British middleweight boxer Anthony Ogogo dedicated his opening victory at the Olympics on Saturday to his ailing mother, laid low by a brain haemorrhage last month.

The 23-year-old clinched a 13-6 first round win over Dominican Republic opponent Junior Castillo Martinez and immediately turned his thoughts to his mother back in Britain.

Ogogo next fights world champion Ievgan Khytrov of Ukraine.

Later on Saturday Vijender Singh, India's 2008 Olympic bronze medallist in the category, also reached the second round taking a 14-10 victory over Kazakh Danabek Suzhanov.

Singh, though, is likely to have a tough second round encounter with American Terrell Gausha, who looked to be on his way out before he rallied in the final 10 seconds to knock Armenian opponent Andranik Hakobyan down twice.

While Gausha left it late his compatriot Joseph Diaz Junior showed why he is one of his team's brightest medal hopes with an impressive opening round win in the bantamweight division.

The 19-year-old, who has pledged to have a successful boxing career to help his family financially, defeated tough Ukrainian Pavlo Ishchenko 19-9.

But it was a bitter-sweet victory as he next meets top seed Lazaro Alvaro Estrada of Cuba on Wednesday.

He lost to Estrada in the quarter-finals at last year's world championships.

Irishman John Joe Nevin demolished Dennis Ceylan of Denmark, his country's first Olympic boxer in 16 years, romping to a 21-6 win and threatens to go further than he did in Beijing where he failed to make the quarter-finals.

Even Nevin, whose compatriot Darren O'Neill also reached the second round in the middleweights, was taken aback by the margin of victory.