Brutal Briton Buatsi unleashes second KO

Britain’s Joshua Buatsi said he had surprised even himself as he thundered his way into the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympic boxing with a brutal knock-out to enhance his rapidly growing reputation.

It was the 23-year-old Londoner’s second KO in two fights as he destroyed the vastly more experienced Uzbek Elshod Rasulov in their light-heavyweight showdown, and will lift British boxing medal hopes after a run of defeats in Rio.

Buatsi put the three-time Olympian Rasulov, 30, down three times in the third and final round when the referee put a stop to the punishment, as the mostly Brazilian crowd in the 9,000-seat arena greeted their hard-hitting new hero from Britain.

“He was tricky and I was glad that I was able to perform and get rid of him,” said the level-headed Buatsi, who was not considered a strong medal hope before Rio but is now just one win from at least a bronze.

“The team spirit is really low at the moment, the boys have been losing, and I’ve gone in there and said, ‘You know what? I want to put everything in and get one back for the team.’

“As shocked as you are, so am I. I’ve surprised myself.

“You have to go in there and lose respect for everyone. He’s done more than I’ve done. When he was competing in Olympics I wasn’t boxing, I was just walking about in London doing what I’ve got to do.

“I couldn’t really tell you how it’s happening. I never saw this coming. My trainers back home may have, but I didn’t.”

Britain’s new Olympic boxing hero faces seasoned Algerian Abdelhafid Benchabla, 29, in the last eight on Sunday.