FRANCIS BARRETT will lack nothing in incentive when he returns to the Olympic boxing stadium tomorrow night for an appointment with the Tunisian, Fathi Missaqui.

At 19, opportunity beckons for Barrett, a member of the travelling community in Galway, who has already captured the imagination of the fight fraternity here.

That is down, not so much to his family background as the whirlwind performance which took him to an emphatic 32-7 points win over the Brazilian, Zely Ferreria on Wednesday.

Americans love the blood and thunder of boxing and, at a time when the computer scoring system has spawned a new generation of single punchers in the amateur game, Barrett's all action style is the exception to the rule.

Inevitably, it has attracted the attention of professional boxing managers and it all serves to heighten the pressure on the Galwayman but for the moment at least, he is fully focused on the job of beating Missaqui.

"The only thing that matters is that I win my contest on Sunday and go on to fight for a medal," he said.

Although I got tired in the last minute of my first fight, I was happy with the way I boxed. This time, I know I have to be ready to keep it going for the full three rounds but I hope to get to him much earlier".

Damaen Kelly arrived here as the prime Irish prospect for a boxing medal but, after a subdued performance in the first series of bouts in the flyweight division, he has some improvement to find if he is to beat Hussein Hussein of Australia tomorrow.

Kelly's timing was frequently astray in eliminating the Bulgarian, Julian Strogov and the doubts born of that performance are heightened now by an eye injury which he will take into the fight.

The Australian is unlikely to be as strong or as clever defensively as Strogov but Kelly still needs to sharpen his punching to reach the last eight.