'Annoyed' Pat McCormack's delivers first Commonwealth Games knockout

McCormack produced the first knockout of the Games - three days into the boxing schedule - as a fierce straight right booked him a place in Tuesday's welterweight (69kg) quarter-finals.

Being made to wait for his first bout on the Gold Coast has not sat well with the 22-year-old, who has been unusually irritable walking around the athlete's village.

But after delivering a knockout blow to secure a sensational opening win, McCormack insists he is now ready to fly through the rest of the competition.

"Yeah, unbelievable, first knockout of the tournament so I’ve got to be doing something right," he said.

"He [Francois] walked straight onto it, didn’t he? The first time he came forward he got caught so that’s why you shouldn’t come forward.

"His tactics obviously were don’t throw and try and counter me but I was far too fast for him. I wasn’t bothered about not working, I’ve got another three fights so it was quite an easy fight, to be honest. I was just biding my time and in the third round it came.

"I was just feinting, keeping him away so he couldn’t come forward because on the videos he was all pressure, pressure, pressure but I got to the centre of the ring, held the centre of the ring and just boxed from the centre.

“I’ve been dying to fight. People have been annoying me, not intentionally but things have just been annoying me and I just wanted to get in there and get my head on the game but now I’m in the tournament it’s going to fly."

McCormack now faces Uganda's Musa Bwogi on Tuesday for a place in the final four, a day after his twin brother Luke will have looked to book his semi-final place in the light-welterweight (64kg) category.

And having felt far more relaxed in the ring with the experience of Glasgow 2014 to call on, McCormack insists he feels in great shape to challenge for gold, as should his brother.

"I can’t wait for us both to get gold medals, he’s on good form and hopefully we’ll both go on to win it," he added.

"I’ve just got to keep performing and I know I can beat anyone here. I feel fantastic, nice and relaxed. I’ve been here before so the pressure hasn’t got to me.

"The nerves and that aren’t there and I went in nice and relaxed and focused on what I was doing. The first time I came [to the Commonwealth Games] I was trying too hard but I let me boxing do the talking now."

Elsewhere, David Bolt suffered a shock exit in the lawn bowls competition as he, lead Jamie Chestney and Robert Paxon were downed 19-18 by minnows Norfolk Island in the 19th end of their men's triples encounter.

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