Londoner James DeGale today secured a third Beijing Olympic boxing medal for Britain with an emphatic quarter-final win over Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev.

The 22-year-old middleweight won 8-3 on points and joins Tony Jeffries (light heavyweight) and David Price (super heavyweight) in the boxing semi-finals.

The trio are now guaranteed at least bronze medals - the first time Britain's boxers have won three medals since the three bronzes secured in Munich in 1972.

DeGale will now face Irishman Darren Sutherland, who looked equally impressive as he beat Venezuelan Alfonso Blanco Parra 11-1.

Sutherland has beaten DeGale four times in their five meetings but the Londoner was upbeat today, having won their last encounter.

He said: "Three of the fights have been in Ireland. I boxed him about six weeks ago and we both gave each other standing counts but this time I am going to use my brain.

"I'm looking forward to it because I am boxing excellently and I have beaten three good opponents here. I've got a bronze medal and I am going down in history.

"I don't care if people say I hit and run. That's amateur boxing and that's what I am going to carry on doing. It's going to be a boring fight. It's not about looking good, it's about winning a medal.

"The mood in the camp is lovely. We are all fighting on Friday and I'm happy for the coach. I definitely think two of us will produce gold, we'll just have to see who but I think I'll be one of them. We've been smashing it - Britain's doing it."

DeGale's opponent was the reigning Olympic champion in the welterweight division, but the Briton led from the outset with the highlight of his fight a left hook to the head midway through the second round. He went on to stretch his lead and in the fourth simply sought to stay out of trouble.