Boxer Manoj Kumar storms into last 16

Indian pugilist Manoj Kumar made it to the last 16 in the men's Light-welter (64kg) division at the London Games, beating Serdar Hudayberdiyev (Turkmenistan) late on Tuesday night.

The Haryana boxer won 13-7.

He will meet world No 1 and third seed Tom Stalker of Great Britain next.

- London Olympics 2012 - Complete coverage

Manoj was always on top of his opponent though the scores were 2-2 at the end of the first round.

But he used his long reach well, and with a solid defence kept Hudayberdiyev at bay, landing regular punches to the midrif.

By the end of the second round he had established a four point lead. He continued in the same vein to end up a comfortable winner.

Manoj is the fifth Indian boxer to make it to the Round of 16 after Jai Bhagwan, Vijender Singh, Devendro Singh and Vikas Krishan, who received a bye in the Round of 32.

Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan failed to make the last 16.

Earlier in the day, Devendro Singh proved too good for Bayron Figueroa Molina of Honduras in his opening bout in the men's light-flyweight 49-kg category.

The referee was forced to stop the contest after 2 minutes and 24 seconds.

Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP