Updated 12.10

IRELAND’S MICHAEL CONLAN and Jason Quigley are one win away from a World Championship medal after victories this morning in Almaty.

And Tommy McCarthy has a chance to join them in the quarter-finals when he faces German heavyweight Emir Ahmatovic later this afternoon.

Conlan won every round on the judges’ cards against Mexico’s Brian Gonzalez in the bantamweight division last 16.

The Belfast fighter will now face tenth seed Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

A win against the Russian would guarantee him a bronze medal at minimum but Conlan, seeded second in his first major tournament at 56kg, will have his sights set on a bigger and better prize.

He said: “It was nice and steady the whole way even if in the third round I decided to take my foot off the gas.

I probably shouldn’t have but I did, I knew I had the fight in the bag. But there’s nothing certain and I probably should have kept the pressure on.

Quigley followed that with a unanimous win over Scottish middleweight Aston Brown. The European champion now meets fourth seed Zolta Harcsa of Hungary in the bronze medal eliminator.

INPHO/Cathal Noonan

“In the second round he came out strong but I expected that because I knew I’d nicked the first round,” he said.

Obviously he’s going to come at me and try to push the fight because he’s a round down, and that’s what he did, but I stayed with him and showed him who the boss was.

– Originally published 11.07

Ward and McComb progress to last 16 of World Championships