ROSIE Eccles couldn’t have wished for a better start to her campaign at the World Championships in Russia today as she won and Olympic rival Sandy Ryan suffered a surprise exit.

Caldicot’s Eccles and fellow welterweight Ryan are going head-to-head to gain selection for the Olympic qualifiers next spring, where a ticket to Tokyo will be on offer.

English fighter Ryan beat Eccles in the Commonwealth Games final last April, but the Welsh woman avenged that defeat during this summer’s European Championships.

The duo went into the Worlds in Ulan-Ude knowing it was their final chance to impress the GB Boxing hierarchy at a major championships ahead of those Tokyo 2020 qualifiers.

Eccles, 23, got off to the best possible start, dominating her bout against Argentina’s Lucia Perez from the get-go.

She found her range early on and hit the target in single shots and combinations.

Perez seemed happy to fight on the back foot, but that only played into Eccles' hands.

Rounds two and three followed a similar pattern to the first, Eccles doing most of the damage with her jab.

Perez occasionally breached the Eccles defence, however, she was always second best.

A unanimous points victory for Eccles (5:0) means she now takes on China’s Liu Yang, who beat Finland’s Elina Gustafsson, in the second round on Wednesday.

Minutes after Eccles had done the business, GB Boxing stablemate Ryan entered the ring for a showdown with Ireland’s Christina Desmond.

And while she had a point deducted in round two, Desmond did enough to get the decision from four of the five ringside judges, the other going with Ryan.

Meanwhile, Ystrad Mynach middleweight Lauren Price fights for the first time in Russia on Tuesday.

The Commonwealth Games and European Games champion meets the winner of Saturday's bout between Mongolia’s Myagmarjargal Munkhbat and India's Saweety Boora.