Rio 2016: Underdog Joshua Buatsi in touching distance of boxing medal glory after overcoming Elshod Rasulov

Britain's Buatsi will start as the underdog again in Sunday's match against Algeria's Abelhafid Benchabla

Great Britain's Joshua Buatsi (blue) fights Eishoot Rasulov of Uzbekistan in Mens Light Heavyweight bout (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

There has been an expected shortage of violence in the boxing ring here in Rio because modern amateur fighters seldom go looking for a knockout, but after two contests light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi, a church regular from south London, has two quick wins.

On Thursday, day six of the boxing, Buatsi, against steep odds, chased Uzbekistan's Elshod Rasulov from rope-to-rope, from corner-to-corner and in the third and last round sent Rasulov over three times for his second knockout win. Rasulov has won medals at three of the four world championships that he has entered, was the favourite and ended the fight in equal amounts of pain and confusion. In short, British boxers never knockout Uzbek tough guys.

"I had to get the win for the team and I had no fear of him," said Buatsi, who was the first of three British boxers to enter the ring on Thursday. "A couple of the boys have lost but the team spirit is still high and everybody is pulling together." Buatsi fights again on Sunday, starts as underdog again and if he beats Algeria's Abelhafid Benchabla he will be guaranteed a bronze medal; Rasulov was the number three seed and Benchabla the number six.

"It is always hard to beat the Kazaks and Uzbeks," said Robert McCracken, the GB director of boxing, an hour before Buatsi fought. "It was not just a tough draw in one round, it's hard in a lot of rounds - the boxers know that and they know that is what can happen. There are still a lot of good boxers to come." McCracken seldom looks concerned, never panics and he spoke with honesty and belief when asked about Britain's first five losers.

A few hours later, in bout 122 to be precise, it was light-welterweight Pat McCormack's Olympic debut against Kazakstan's teenager sensation Ablaikhan Zhussupov and McCormack handed out a flawless boxing lesson to win on points. One of the three judges voted for the stone-faced Kazak, which was a disgrace.

McCormack was more aggressive in the opening round than either of the recent British losers Qais Ashfaq and Joe Cordina, who started their opening rounds in a slow daze; McCracken had promised that the remaining boxers would not let their Olympic ambitions slip away with lazy opening rounds. McCormack, who is 21, fights the top Cuban and number two seed, Yasnier Toledo, here on Sunday.

Against Zhussupov there was not a wasted punch or move, no panic or rush in McCormack's work and his opponent, who was fancied for a serious medal, started to look a bit lost by the end of the third round. One judge tried to ruin the show, but injustices are thankfully increasingly becoming rare in the arena of the Olympic ring.

It was a hard night for Josh Kelly at welterweight, losing all three rounds and chasing the outstanding Kazak talisman Daniyar Yeleussinov for every second of their welterweight fight. Kelly was aggressive, tried to run, tried to move his feet, tried desperate punches, but was made to miss by the number two seed. It was a fight too far for Kelly, who had given up on his Olympic ambitions over Christmas when he gained a couple of stone in beer. Kelly, with a few others in the squad, would be ideally suited for Tokyo in 2020, assuming that the professional promoters can be resisted.

The day started with optimism from McCracken, took a lift when Buatsi started to let this punches go, McCormack was excellent and Kelly never stopped in his lost cause. On Saturday it will be super-heavyweight Joe Joyce's time to twirl under the lights when his Olympic campaign starts and then three more box on Sunday. The British boxing squad started with twelve, there are six left and for some, like Buatsi and McCormack, the medals are getting closer.