Australia’s Teremoana Teremoana made quick work of Ukraine’s Dmytro Lovchynskyi in their Olympic super-heavyweight bout.
The pair met in the round of 16 at the Arena Paris Nord in Villepinte, France.
Teremoana scored a blistering KO in the opening roundCredit: GETTY
Teremoana entered the fight as the No.5 seed and proved he was deserving of the high rating by blasting out Lovchynskyi in the opening stanza.
From the off, Lovchynskyi looked to work his way inside the long reach of his towering foe.
But was decked by a short left hook as he lunged in early doors.
After making his way back to his feet, Lovchynskyi waded back in but walked straight onto a right uppercut that forced the referee to administer a standing eight count.
Seconds later, a confident Teremoana surged forward and sat his adversary down with a monstrous overhand right to close the show.
The vicious stoppage unfolded in front of Ukrainian boxing icon Oleksandr Usyk, who is in Paris for the Games supporting his compatriots.
The world heavyweight champion won heavyweight gold at London 2012 and is now back basking in the spectacle of the best amateur boxers around.
“We are going to the Olympics! I remember my journey there 12 years ago, targeting gold,” he said in a post on Instagram.
“I remember the emotions well – a combination of fear and determination, the desire to win.
“Now I want to support the members of the Ukrainian national team who are experiencing these feelings.
Usyk watched on from ringsideCredit: Eurosport
“It is hard to accept that this Olympics may be the last one to host boxing events.
“This loss would be devastating to our sport as new talent is emerging in amateur boxing.
“I believe Olympic gold is the pinnacle of achievement for any athlete.
“That’s why my Ready To Fight team and I are dedicating time in Paris to find ways to help.
“We are committed to preserving Olympic boxing for future generations, ensuring it remains fair, transparent and truly Olympic.”
It remains unclear as to whether boxing will be at the Olympics when Los Angeles hosts the event in 2028 due to ‘persistent issues’ surrounding former Olympic amateur boxing governing body the International Boxing Association (IBA), which was banned due to alleged corruption.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been set a deadline of 2025 to find a suitable governing body to take over operations.
Breakaway governing body, World Boxing, looks to be the favourite to replace the IBA with the boxing federations of Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Honduras and Sweden all joining as new members.
Back in Paris, Teremoana will next face defending champion Bakhodir Jalolov, who pipped the Australian to World Championship gold in 2023.
Teremoana wasn’t thinking of the presence of Usyk, whom he said he met backstage.
“Yes, he came behind the scenes in the dressing room to wish Ukraine good luck, so I just had a bit of eye contact with him,” he said.
“I wasn’t really thinking of him though, I was just very happy to get the win for Australia.”
One man not in the next round is Britain’s Delicious Orie, who suffered a shock defeat to Davit Chaloyan. It meant Great Britain have now lost all four of their bouts so far.
“I do think I was a little bit hard done by, it was very close and I felt like I just did enough.
“You can argue the same for Rosie, you can argue the same for Charley, so I knew I had to go in strong and hard, but at the same time I didn’t want to overcommit myself.
“At the end of the day that was the result, I had to just accept with both hands and move on.
“For the past eight years I’ve always dreamed about that gold medal at an Olympic Games and it’s been taken away from me.
“It could be from me, it could be from the judges but at the end of the day that’s what’s happened.”
#Olympia2024 26 year old super heavyweight Australian Teremoana Jnr gets a knockout win in his Olympics debut against Ukrainian Dmytro Lovchynskyi
Teremoana is one to watch. Wow
— The 505 🥊 (@the505way) July 29, 2024