Fresh from delivering Northern Ireland’s only gold medal in the ring in the Commonwealth Games in July, Jon McConnell got Team Ireland’s European Elite Championships off to an emphatic winning start in Bulgaria on Thursday evening.

McConnell is part of a 14-strong Ireland squad in Sofia that includes a late change after two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington was forced to withdraw with a hand injury. Kellie McLoughlin has instead travelled, competing in the women’s lightweight division.

A member of the Holy Trinity club in Belfast, McConnell made short work of Turkey’s Necat Ekinci in their 70kg last-32 bout.

Ekinci, a Paris Olympian and a former World Youth Champion, had no answer to McConnell dominance. The back-to-back national elite champion dictated the tempo from start to finish, claiming a unanimous decision.

The 23-year-old will next fight Damian Durkacz for a place in the quarter-finals on Saturday after the Pole’s unanimous victory over Aleksandr Trofimcuk of Lithuania.

“It was good,” McConnell said of his opening fight. “The first one is always the hardest, everyone knows that, but I felt good in there, I felt sharp.

“I had the first two rounds won so I took the last round off. In these tournaments, it’s down to experience, boxing back-to-back days, but I’m ready to go.”

On his approach facing Ekinci, McConnell added: “Everything was working to perfection. Those were the tactics, to use the jab early and just dominate from the start.

“It gave me an extra push to get the team off to a good start, it’s an individual sport but we’re here as Team Ireland, and I was happy to be first on.”

Jude Gallagher is next up for Ireland in the men’s 60kg division during Friday’s afternoon session. The Derry lightweight will face Slovakia’s Maksym Bocarov for a place in the last 16. Paris Olympian Dean Clancy will be in action on Friday evening, facing Germany’s Mohamed Siala in the men’s 65kg division.

Heavyweight Jack Marley’s last-16 opponent has also been determined for their fight on Sunday, with the 23-year-old set to take on fellow Paris Olympian Aryan Saed Panah.