Rio 2016: Nicola Adams eases into semi-finals but Michael Conlan's 'cheat' claims prove the real story

London 2012 gold medallist Nicola Adams beat Ukraine's Tetyana Kob but Conlan's shock loss grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons

Nicola Adams celebrates her victory in the women's flyweight quarter-finals (Getty)

Nicola Adams had an easy passage to her second Olympic medal, winning three of the four rounds against Ukraine's Tetyana Kob on Monday afternoon in Rio to guarantee a minimum of a bronze medal.

The win came just 24-hours after another Olympic champion, Katie Taylor, was beaten and shockingly eliminated from the tournament in a fight that, like Adams, she was meant to win easily.

"That was the start, that was all about just getting back and getting the win," said Adams. "Every boxer in this tournament has me in their sights, they want to beat me - I'm the Olympic champion, I'm the one with a target on my back."

Kob qualified for Rio because Adams managed to qualify twice and was forced to surrender one of her slots, which was handed to the Ukrainian and she pushed Adams for all four rounds. Kob is a veteran of five World championships, won a bronze in Bridgetown in 2010 and the win by Adams was impressive, a gentle message to the other women in her way.

"I have seen some top seeds get beat and I knew that I could not take anything for granted," continued Adams. "It gets harder now, I know the way it works and that is why getting the first win is so important."

In Thursday's semi-final Adams will fight her one-time nemesis Cancan Ren from China, who picked up a cut beating Canada's Mandy Bujold in the other quarter-final during Tuesday's morning session. Adams finally ended her Ren jinx in the flyweight final in London to win the first ever female boxing medal.

However, the real story at the boxing on day 11 and after 229 fights was the second disgraceful decision in two days. On Monday night, in the heavyweight final, Vassily Levit lost on points to Russian Evgeny Tischenko, the number one seed, and the crowd booed the verdict for ten minutes.

On Tuesday, two fights after Adams, it was Mick Conlan, the Belfast boxer in the Irish team, and he dropped another heavily disputed decision to a Russian. "I won it clearly, all three rounds - that is a disgrace, there should be an inquiry. How could they do it to me?" Conlan said. Conlan is the reigning World amateur champion and was the number one seed here in Rio. He will now turn professional.