ATHENS (AP) - Amir Khan, Britain's 17-year-old light flyweight sensation, clinched an Olympic medal with a one-round thrashing of South Korea's Baik Jong-sub on Tuesday.
In an eventful session at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall, American light heavyweight Andre Ward achieved the tournament's biggest upset, beating two-time world champion Evgeny Makarenko of Russia 23-16 with a crafty game plan.
And when Greek light heavyweight Elias Pavlidis was forced to stop his fight against Egypt's Ahmed Ismail because of cuts, the crowd booed and threw water bottles at the ring, forcing Ismail to run for cover. Pavlidis, trying to win Greece's first boxing medal, was leading 18-12 when the fight was stopped.
With a third straight bravura performance for his rowdy fans, Khan was guaranteed at least a bronze medal.
"I think I can do what he did," Khan said.
Khan, Britain's only fighter at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall, put on his third straight bravura performance for his rowdy fans. He battered Baik with several combinations, knocking the Korean to the mat with a hard right hand just 76 seconds in.
The referee stopped the fight with 23 seconds left in the round after Khan cornered Baik on the ropes and unloaded. Khan jumped for joy, then pointed at his fans and touched his own heart.
"I didn't really expect to finish it that quick," Khan said. "I knew I could beat him, because slow feet and slow hands are made for me. . . . It's quite an achievement, winning the bronze medal for me. The pressure is off me now. I think I'll just get better and better as the Olympics goes on."
Khan guaranteed himself at least a bronze medal with a berth in Friday's semifinals, when he'll meet Kazakhstan's Serik Yeleuov.
Ward kept alive his six-year unbeaten streak with a masterful technical victory over Makarenko, who hadn't lost in a major international tournament in five years. Ward used the Russian's height and reach advantages against him, repeatedly landing straight punches to Makarenko's head and then sneaking away before the Russian could reply.
"My father always told me that in big fights, you've got to rise to the occasion," said Ward, whose father died two years ago. "I couldn't tell what (Makarenko's) corner was saying to him, because they have a different language, but I could tell they were very frustrated with him."
A large partisan crowd expected Pavlidis to win -and he was ahead until the bleeding became too great to continue. The crowd immediately began booing and throwing the bottles -some half-filled -into the ring from upper balcony seats.
Ismail was declared the winner, but left the ring running to get out of the angry crowd.
Cuba sent two more fighters into the semifinals, with lightweight Mario Kindelan and light flyweight Yan Bhartelemy easily winning their bouts.
With two fighters scheduled to appear Wednesday's last quarter-final session, Cuba already is guaranteed at least seven medals. Kindelan's next fight is against Russia's Murat Khrachev, who beat Uganda's Sam Rukundo 31-18.