ATHENS, Aug 16: Pakistan's lightweight Sohail Ahmad fell at the first hurdle in Olympic boxing when he lost to Bekzod Khidirov of Uzbekistan after referee stopped the contest in the second round on Monday.

The bout had to be stopped as the Pakistani was completely outclassed 1:30 in the second round. Earlier on Sunday, another Pakistani pugilist Faisal Karim was thrashed 26-11 by Romania's Ionut Gheorghe in the light-welterweight category.

Meanwhile, Britain's one-man boxing team, Amir Khan made a fine start to his Olympic campaign by outclassing local hope Marios Kaperonis on Monday. The gifted 17-year-old lightweight, a title contender after spectacular performances in the run-in to the Games, soon recovered from a tentative start to show off his dazzling skills.

Fired up by a partisan crowd, Kaperonis opened a 3-0 lead in the first round but struggled once Amir stepped up a gear and was trailing 31-12 on the scoreboard when the referee stopped the contest with 41 seconds remaining in the third round.

"The first round is always difficult because you don't know what to expect but then I got confident because I knew I could beat him," said Amir, whose hand speed, accuracy and maturity beyond his years make him a unique talent.

"I knew that with the crowd behind him he would start fast but I also knew he would tire down and once I got going I put him under real pressure and he didn't like that," he added.

Still too young to compete at British senior events, Amir, the world junior and European champion, aims at emulating Audley Harrison, who handed Britain their first Olympic boxing gold since 1968 with his super-heavyweight triumph four years ago in Sydney.

There was some controversy before Amir's trip to Athens when he was told the man in his corner would not be his domestic trainer, Mick Jelley, but British team coach Terry Edwards.

"It gives me extra motivation when he's there but once I'm in the ring I'm by myself so it doesn't make that much difference," Amir said of Jelley's absence. Amir's main rival for the gold medal, defending champion Mario Kindelan, is nearly twice as old as the Briton at 33. The Cuban is in another part of the draw and will be in action later on Monday.

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