Inspired by the memory of his late grandfather and spurred on by family in the crowd, Cook Islander Teremoana Teremoana has become the first Australian to win a Super Heavyweight fight in Olympic history.

Inspired by the memory of his late grandfather and spurred on by family in the crowd, Cook Islander Teremoana Teremoana has become the first Australian to win a Super Heavyweight fight in Olympic history.

The 26-year-old beat Ukrainian Dmytro Lovchynskyi in a first-round knockout with a devastating display of power in their 92kg+ bout at the North Paris Arena on Monday.

He will now fight reigning Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov from Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals on Friday.

“We’re here to win and I’m just glad I got it out of the way in the first round,” Teremoana said.

“I wasn’t planning to go for the knockout, I am confident in my strength, but the plan was to go out there and box, and I was landing a few clean punches and he was feeling it.

“We’ve been working on everything in the past 18 months, I fought him last February and he beat me over three rounds, so I was just very happy to get my revenge.”

Teremoana boxed as a junior but gave the sport away at 19 and later travelled around Australia in a caravan.

But the passing of his grandfather just before his 21st birthday made him return to the sport and in Paris he celebrated his victory with a special dance in a nod to his heritage.

“I’m representing my grandfather, he was a Cook Islander,” he said.

“He was a family person who led by example, and I respect him so much because he walked the talk and I’m trying to be a representation of him.

“I am Teremoana Junior, named after him. I used to be known as Sampson and I decided at my 21st (birthday) that I was going to go by Teremoana.

“Since then I wanted to put his name on the world stage and I decided I would go back to boxing and do that.”

Teremoana could become the third boxer with Pacific Island heritage to win a medal at the Olympic Games, according to RNZ Pacific.

Samoan David Tua was the first boxer with Pacific Island heritage to win a medal at the Olympics, claiming bronze for New Zealand at the 1992 Games.

While Tonga's Paea Wolfgramm was the second Pacific Island boxer to win a medal at the Olympics, claiming silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

No other Pacific boxer has been able to follow suit.

• olympics.com.au