KELLIE HARRINGTON WILL box for her second Olympic medal after reaching the 60kg quarter-finals with a shutout, unanimous-decision victory over Italy’s Alessia Mesiano.
Harrington, 34, began the defence of her Tokyo gold with a masterful display against Mesiano, 32, who is a former featherweight world champion and a three-time World Championship medallist in her own right.
The Dubliner will face either Colombia’s World Championship silver medallist Angie Valdez or Kosovo’s Tokyo Olympian Donjeta Sadiku in the last eight, a bout in which Harrington can secure at least a bronze medal.
Harrington won every round on all five judges’ scorecards, establishing her jab early and turning on the style as she landed single shots and two-punch combinations at will.
Relaxed throughout, Harrington constantly beat Mesiano to the punch, finding a home for her right hand upstairs in the early going before routinely pinging Mesiano with a backhand left out of the southpaw stance as the bout progressed.
Harrington, the universal boxer, switched seamlessly between stances and befuddled an excellent boxer in Mesiano, cruising to the finish line.
The Olympic champion will return to action on Wednesday, when she’ll face Valdez or Sadiku (they box each other at 7pm today) for a place in the semis.
