Super-heavyweight David Price gave Great Britain's boxing team a welcome boost after beating Russia's Islam Timurziev with a fantastic display.
The referee stopped the bout in the second round after two vicious Price attacks in quick succession forced Timurziev to take standing counts.
The first saw Price, who trailed 2-0 in the judges' scoring, land with a crisp right-left combination to the head.
And moments later, a straight left hand made the referee's mind up.
Timurziev, the European champion and favourite for the gold, was not impressed with the decision, shaking his head in dismay as his opponent celebrated one of the best victories of his career.
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But that was of no concern to 25-year-old Price, who will take on Lithuania's Jaroslav Jaksto in the quarter-finals.
"When I hit him with my right hand I could feel my knuckles crunching into him. I could feel it bone on bone," he said.
"This right hand of mine has come on so much, but I've got to take it one day at a time. I've got to win one more to get in the medals, but I can relax a bit now because the first one - and the hardest one - is out of the way."
Price's win was a welcome fillip for the British team, coming after the enforced withdrawal of Frankie Gavin and the controversial points defeat of Joe Murray on Tuesday.
"Hopefully all the lads will get a buzz from me. I beat the world number one Russian and I've proved to the rest of the guys that they're not unbeatable," he said.
Coach Terry Edwards was quick to draw comparisons between Price and Audley Harrison, who won gold for Britain at the Sydney Games eight years ago.
"I felt a bit of deja vu from 2000 when Audley stopped the European champion. David has got stronger and stronger over the past 18 months and showed he can really hit.
"If you look at his record, earlier in his career he rarely stopped anyone, but since he stepped up his training, he's started hitting a whole lot harder.
"In the past 18 months he has stopped most of his opponents."
Price's family are due to fly out to Beijing next Monday, but his fight with Jaksto takes place on the same day, so he will have to win that if they are to see him in action.
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