Edinburgh tiling instructor Matty McHale laid the ground for a Commonwealth medal push with a split-decision win over a showboating opponent.

The 26-year-old was far from comfortable in the round of 16 contest against Jabali Breedy, who disrupted the Scot with fancy footwork and even chatted mid-fight.

“He was talking to me in the ring and I thrive off stuff like that,” said McHale.

“I asked him if he was tired and he said, ‘no, no’ and I was like, ‘you are!’”

This summer, Team Scotland, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, comprises of over 250 athletes, all vying for medal success.

World quarter-finalist Breedy edged both the first and second rounds and the pair were neck-and-neck heading into the last.

McHale came out firing in the third and had Breedy on the canvas in the opening moments, claiming the round unanimously to surge through.

He said: “We knew it would be a tough one. He’s a very good, strong boy, so I just needed to keep composure and stick to the game plan, the long box.

“He started his showboating and I just had to keep my head and not let it rile me up.

“I knew it was close going into the last round. I knew that my best round’s always the last round, so the real McHale came out in that last round.”

On Breedy’s tactics, he said: “He can do what he wants, he was on the floor and I got my hand raised. I’ve seen it before, he’s a bit of a cool character.

“You can see he’s a bit of a hothead too, so for me it was about keeping a cool head.

Next up for McHale, who has competed at World and European Championships in the last year, in the quarter-finals is Muhammad Imdad Ahmad Shaharom.

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