BRIAN MAGEE enters the Olympic boxing ring today in the knowledge that a victory over Mohammed Bahari will earn him a place in the last eight of the middleweight division.

It's a powerful incentive for the Belfast man who picked himself up off the floor in the first minute of his contest against the big hitting Canadian, Randall Thompson, to grind out a points win.

Given that disastrous start, the Irish team manager, Mickey Hawkins, was well satisfied with Magee's performance, but stressed the need for extra vigilance now.

"At this level, you simply can't afford to leave your chin unprotected and hopefully, Brian has now absorbed that lesson," he said. "Otherwise, he boxed very well, jabbing accurately and working hard when he got in close and that must again be the priority in this bout.

"We've been looking at videos of Bahari's contest in the first series and, while he's a useful operator with fast hands, we think we can take care of him."

The other Irish survivors from the first round, will both be in action on Sunday. Damaen Kelly from Belfast, meets Hussein Hussein of Australia in the second series in the flyweight division, while the Galway light welter weight, Francis Barrett is in against Tunisian Fathi Missaqui.

Kelly is still carrying a cut on his eyelid, the product of an unconvincing display against Julian Strogov of Bulgaria on Tuesday, but he is confident that it will not present him with any undue problems.

By far, the most popular member of the Irish boxing squad to date has been Barrett, whose non-stop punching carried him to a comprehensive 32-7 win over the Brazilian Zely Ferreria on Wednesday.

Conservative estimates are that Barrett threw close on 200 punches in a ferocious attack which excited the American crowd as much as it exasperated Ferreria.

Performances like that drain the strength from boxers but, undeterred, Barrett was back in the gym yesterday loosening up.