GOLD medal hero Jamie Arthur (pictured) admitted that he felt the weight of a nation on his shoulders as he made a flying start to his professional career on Saturday night.

The Cwmbran lightweight easily out-pointed Sheffield journeyman Danny Thorpe 40-36 at Glasgow's Braehead Arena.

But the 22-year-old, who became the first Welshman to win Commonwealth Games gold since Howard Winstone in 1958, was more relieved than elated following his victory.

"It's a relief to get it out of the way," admitted Arthur. "There was a lot of pressure on me for the first fight - you know this guy had fought 20-odd times before so he had some experience under his belt.

"I've got this to learn from now. With the first fight, you're always the most nervous.

"My trainer Charlie Pearce always said that I could go the four rounds but I had to see that for myself and now I've done it."

Saturday night was the first time he'd stepped into a ring - professional or amateur - since bagging his gold medal in Manchester last summer.

He said: "I felt a little bit rusty because I hadn't been in the ring for eight months but I want to keep really busy now and that's when things will improve."

"There's a lot of stress on me because it's a lot different to the amateurs," he added. "I felt good for the fight but just little things made it feel weird."

Arthur now hopes to be quickly installed on Newbridge hero Joe Calzaghe's WBO super-middleweight world title bill which will probably go ahead on May 10.

Calzaghe is scheduled to take on former two-time WBA champion William Joppy.