JOE Cordina made a successful start to life as an Olympian with victory in his opening bout at Rio 2016.

The 24-year-old St Joseph’s ace produced a strong final round to get the decision over Charly Suarez of the Philippines in their 60kg lightweight showdown.

In the end, Cordina came out on top on two of the three judges’ scorecards, with his opponent being given the verdict on the other.

Cordina’s win sets him up for a meeting with Uzbekistan’s Hurshid Tojibaev in the last 16 on Tuesday (3.30pm BST).

“It was amazing,” said Cordina after tonight's triumph. “The crowd is only going to get bigger and bigger and I just can’t wait to fight again.

“I thought I performed well and executed the game plan perfectly.

“He did exactly what I thought he would do, come out swinging and falling over the front foot.

“For me, it was just stepping back and hitting him as he came in.

“I thought I won all three rounds. The judges are there to judge and I’m there to box. I got the win and that’s the main thing.

“Every tournament I go to, my first fight is always the shaky one. I just look to improve every single bout and the gold is there for the taking."

On his next opponent, he added: “It’s a tough bout but I think I’m more than capable of beating him.”

Cardiff-born Cordina is bidding to become the first Welsh boxer to claim an Olympic gold medal and a confident start saw him take the opening round.

But Suarez hit back in the second stanza, connecting with the cleaner punches to level things up heading into the last.

A couple of tasty upper cuts from Cordina worked a treat in the final round and the split decision went in his favour.

One judge scored the fight 29-28 to Suarez but the other two felt Cordina had done enough, scoring the contest 29-28 and 30-27 to the Welshman.