Gráinne Walsh advanced to the quarter-finals at the World Boxing Championships at the Liverpool Arena after a comprehensive victory on an otherwise disappointing day on Merseyside for Irish fighters.
Walsh faced Mariana Soto of Spain in an entertaining last-16 bout in the 65kg division that began at a brisk tempo.
Trading punches in the middle of the ring, the Tullamore welterweight connected with a straight right and followed up with a combination to the body.
Soto lacked the finesse of her opponent, but sought to make up for any technical deficiencies by an admirable aggressive approach.
However, such a strategy played into the hands of the wily Walsh, who boasted the superior hand speed, and finished the round with a jarring left hook.
All five judges awarded the round to the Irish fighter, but the second stanza was a more even affair.
Walsh's switch-hitting tactics still caused her opponent problems when in an orthodox stance, but she struggled to find her range at times when fighting southpaw.
Soto connected with a number of left hooks and leaned heavily into her right upper cut in a cagier second round.
If there were any concerns over a shift in momentum, Walsh soon quelled them with a strong finish that saw the 29-year-old awarded the round 3-2 on the judges' scorecards.
Soto's enthusiasm and fitness never waned and she connected with a left hook in the third, but it was Walsh who continued to make the more meaningful contributions.
The Paris Olympian persevered with fighting in southpaw in the final round, but the tactic was now paying off.
Walsh peppered Soto with a series of meaty body shots that the 27-year-old from Valencia lacked the skills to combat.
A left hook and another straight right wrapped up the display and Walsh was beaming long before a victory by unanimous decision was concerned.
Next up for the victor is clash that could arguably grace a World final, with veteran Yang Liu lying in wait in the last eight.
The Chinese fighter from Inner Mongolia lost the gold medal fight against Algeria's Imane Khelif at Paris 2024, with the Olympic champion currently unable to compete as she appeals a decision by World Boxing blocking her participation in the sport until she has undergone genetic sex testing.
Jack Marley's opener ended in defeat as he fell to a 4-1 loss to the impressive Sagyndyk Togamba in his last-16 bout.
The Kazakhstani fighter had to fend off some good work from the energetic Marley in this men’s 90kg fight, but while he threw considerably fewer punches, he rarely missed the target with those shots he did take.
For the first two and half minutes of the opening round, barely a clean punch was landed, but the pair met in the centre and started to slug it out for the final 30 seconds.
Togambay’s stiff punches convinced four of the judges against the busier Marley and he continued to show plenty of patience in the second round, picking his punches with precision against the Dubliner, who last year became the first Irish heavyweight to fight in the Olympics since Cathal O'Grady in 1996.
Marley, who received a bye to this stage, was behind on three scorecards and level on another entering the last and required something special, and while the effort was certainly there, Togamba never looked in any bother as he progressed to the quarter-finals.
Jennifer Lehane was the first of the Irish boxers in action on Monday. The Meath bantamweight was fighting in what is a very strong women's 54kg division and faced world championship first-timer Yoselina Perez of the United States in the last 16.
Lehane got the first punch through followed by successive non-scoring head shots but after a cagey first half of the opening bout, Perez dominated and boxed nicely off the back foot with cleaner punches than Lehane.
A 3-2 split in the opening round left it wide open for Lehane but a docked point with a minute remaining in the second, followed by a clean body shot from the American, made the difference and saw all five judges going the way of Perez.
It was much the same in the final round, with the American looking the more lively of the two, and she ultimately recorded a 5-0 victory.
