michael conlan was on the verge of pulling out of his must-win bout in the world series of boxing before opting to fight and claiming a dramatic win to book his place at the rio 2016 olympic games alongside team-mate paddy barnes .
both belfast boxers -lrb- bronze medallists at london 2012 -rrb- , were in action for the italia thunder franchise in venezuela on saturday night .
the two-time olympic medallist dropped his opponent in the first round en route to claiming a 49-45 victory on two of the judges ' cards .