BURY Amateur Boxing Club's Amir Khan got his Olympic dream off to a flyer on Monday with a third round stoppage of Greece's Marios Kaperonis.

The 17-year-old lightweight, coached by Mike Jelley, dusted off some early nerves to dominate the local favourite in his Athens preliminary bout.

The Bolton College student, who is the youngest member of the British team and the only boxer in the Great Britain squad, took a little time to settle in a tentative first round which finished level on points at 6-6.

Kaperonis, backed by a vociferous home crowd, made a quick start and went into a three point lead in the opening twenty seconds but as the round progressed the teenager began to find his range and soon pulled back the deficit.

He took total control in the second and forced the Greek into taking a standing count after a vicious left-right combination.

From then on there was only going to be one winner as he used his greater reach to advantage, landing wonderful combinations that left the hapless Kaperonis totally outclassed.

At the end of the second round he had opened up a 18-11 advantage mainly thanks to his ramrod right which he used with unerring accuracy.

In the third it continued to be all one-way traffic and the bout was stopped at 1 minute 9 seconds when Khan moved into a 20-point lead, as per Olympic rules.

"It was a nervous start from me but once I got into it I felt alright," said Khan.

"After the first round my corner told me not to get involved, relax a bit and use my brains and it worked for me.

"You need to get into your stride quickly in the Olympics and I'm just glad I managed to do that.

"Hopefully, now I'll be in top gear for my next fight."

That next bout promises to be a tough one for Khan who will face tough European champion Dimitar Stilianov on Friday.

The vastly experienced Bulgarian has come down from light welterweight where he has won a good number of tournament medals.

Nevertheless, there's encouragement for the local lad in that he has been stopped and may prefer the heavier weight.

"Me and Terry (Edwards, the Great Britain coach) are going to sit down and watch videos of him and go through what tactics to use," he added.

"I have my feet on the ground but remain confident I can go through.

"I think going to the World Junior Championships was a good preparation for me and was good for my confidence."

Another piece of good news for Khan is that reigning Olympic lightweight champion Mario Kindelan of Cuba is in the other half of the draw.

"I'm confident I can get through, but there are still a lot of experienced men in my half, and anyone who comes to the Olympics is a good boxer."