SAVANNAH Marshall admitted to feeling the pressure but still made a triumphant return to an Olympic boxing ring on Sunday - exorcising some of her demons in the process.

Four years ago Marshal arrived at London 2012 as the reigning world champion, only to be dumped out in the first round by Kazakhstan's Marina Volnova.

And for Marshall’s first round of her opening middleweight bout with Anna Laurell of Sweden it looked as though lightning might strike twice in Rio as all she started slowly, with one judge handing round one to her opponent.

But the 25-year-old soon settled into her groove against her opponent – 11 years her senior – and was awarded the final two rounds by all three judges to win by a unanimous decision.

"We all know what happened in London, and I was actually really nervous," she said.

"I thought it was terrible and it wasn’t a great fight by me.

“To be fair, I thought it was a lot closer than unanimous. I could hear the crowd shouting 'Anna, Anna' so I thought I must be down on points.

“I was really nervous before the fight and I’m just happy to get that win out of the way. I thought I boxed terribly and thought it was a lot closer than a unanimous decision.

“Still, I’m happy to get the win out of the way. She came out really sharp and I thought I must be down so just happy to get through.”

Having negotiated her first hurdle in Rio Marshall now turns her attentions to a quarter-fnal bout with Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Fontijn knocked Marshall out of this year's World Championships at the semi-final stage in the second round and the Hartlepool star is gunning for some revenge.

“I really want a medal here. It’s the only tournament I haven’t won a medal in but I feel like this is the time,” she added.

"I really want a medal, and she is in my way.

"She has beaten me the last four times - some of those decisions I thought were a bit harsh - but this is the time now."

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