DESPITE successfully getting his Olympic campaign up and running in Rio, Josh Kelly promised to return to the ring with even more enthusiasm for his last 16 clash on Thursday.

The Sunderland welterweight defeated Egypt’s Walid Mohamed by unanimous decision on Monday.

The win was hardly in doubt for Kelly who dominated from start to finish to win 30-27 on the scorecards of the judges.

However, what was more impressive was that the 22-year-old revealed afterwards how he had been struggling with a virus in the run up to his Olympic Games debut.

And while acknowledging he had not always boxed clever during the bout, Kelly was happy with the way he had dealt with his disrupted preparations.

“It feels good. It wasn’t my best performance” said Kelly, who will now face Daniyar Yeleussinov, from Kazakhstan on Thursday evening “There’s no excuses but I’ve just come off a viral infection and I’ve just come off antibiotics so I’m feeling like I’ve shook it off now.

“When I came out I thought I tried to knock holes in him instead of using some boxing skills.

“I was in bed for two days before. It is what it is.

“It’s fight day. If I lost I would shake his hand. You need to just get on with it and grit your teeth.

“I just felt a little bit sluggish and a bit like my timing wasn’t there. Hopefully I’ll get some rest for the next two days and fight well on Thursday.”

Kelly’s next opponent Yeleussinov is seeded second in the competition although the Brit was predicting a close encounter.

“I’ve sparred with him before and it’s been a class fight,” he added. “Obviously I’ve got to perform better than I have tonight but if I can put my best performance in I can be one to watch.

“This could make or break the competition for either of us. Whoever wins this could go on to win it.”

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