Devendro scores quick win in opening round

Devendro Singh got off to a smashing start at the London Games, thrashing Bayron Figueroa Molina of Honduras in his opening bout in the men's light-flyweight 49-kg category, at the ExCel Arena, on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old pint-sized Indian pugilist went on the attack from the first bell and his inexperienced opponent came under a barrage of punches.

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Molina was even knocked down once by a heavy right-hander from Devendro, and it was not long before the referee stopped the contest as Devendro kept battering his hapless opponent.

After 2 minutes and 24 seconds it was all over.

"I felt good after winning so convincingly. I knew from the start that this was going to be an easy bout, but I am preparing for the upcoming bouts where I will face tougher opponents," said the Manipur boxer after the victory.

Devendro looked like a man possessed and straightaway went on the offensive, reeling punches on the Honduras boxer, who tried valiantly to defend himself.

He later revealed that there was no pre-planned move to start aggressively.

"There was no fixed strategy coming into this bout. It depends on the boxer you are facing and the kind of start you make. I was always thinking of winning," he said.

So brutal was his attack that at one point Indian coaches Gurbax Singh Sandhu and Blas Fernandez asked Devendro to go easy on his opponent.

"The coaches were telling me to take it easy, but I don't believe in taking it easy," the youngster said.

However, Devendro faces stiff competition when he takes on Purevdorjiin Serdamba of Mongolia, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"That bout will be tough, because he is a good boxer and won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. Me and my coaches will study videos of his bouts and will prepare accordingly," he said.

So far India has had mixed fortunes in boxing, with three boxers winning and two losing their first round bouts.

Later in the day, Manoj Kumar will open his campaign at the Games, when he takes on Serdar Hudayberdiyev of Turkmenistan. (0215 hrs Wednesday)

Image: Devendro Singh Laishram, left, in action against Honduras's Bayron Molina Figueroa in a light-flyweight 49kg preliminary boxing match at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP