The 20-year-old light-heavyweight found himself a point behind after two rounds and on the brink of a shock first-round exit before fighting back with a desperate last-round assault that lit up London’s ExCel centre on Monday afternoon.

He had entered the arena clad in a shirt with an Aboriginal flag on it rather than simply in the red or blue outfits that Olympic boxers compete in, before ripping it off to fight out of the red corner.

Hooper was unconcerned at a potential reaction from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over his attire, saying he was proud of his Indigenous background and crediting his heritage with the 13-11 points win.

The IOC has regulations in place about what athletes can wear into competition and the wearing of the shirt is understood to be a breach of his Australian team’s athletes agreement.

‘‘I’m Aboriginal, I’m representing my culture not only my country, but all my people as well,’’ said Hooper, whose mother is an Indigenous Australian.

‘‘I’m very proud and that’s what I wanted to do. I’m happy I did it. I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was just thinking about family and all that. That’s what really matters to me. Look what it just did, it just made my whole performance a lot better with that whole support behind me.’’

Hooper has four days off now before he fights the Russian Egor Mekhontcev for a place in the light-heavyweight quarter-finals.

He will almost certainly not be permitted to wear the Aboriginal flag shirt again, but was unfazed about a possible sanction from the IOC or the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

‘‘I’m not saying that I don’t care,’’ Hooper said.

‘‘I’m just saying that I’m very proud of what I did.’’

Hooper is fast emerging as a controversy magnet as well as a world-class amateur boxer.

He walked out of the Australian team’s pre-Olympics camp in Canberra after a disagreement with coach Don Abnett but on Monday he said it was his corner-man that steered him from behind after a slow start against the 21-year-old Browne.

The American led by a point heading into the third round before Hooper stepped up the aggression, dominating for the final three minutes and at one point leaving his opponent on a standing count.

The judges ruled in his favour by three points, but the performance was so emphatic the Greek judge had him an 18-8 winner for the round.

‘‘Me and coach have a good bond. I trust him 100 per cent with what he says. I tried my own plan and his plan in the beginning and then I listened to everything he was saying in the ring,’’ Hooper said.

‘‘What I just did shows....what a good coach I have.

‘‘I thought I would have been a lot more sharper. I felt awesome but then again he was a good opponent as well and he wasn’t going to let me just walk all over him which I did in the last round.

‘‘I was jinking and fading and throwing all these punches and I was catching him. I could see it in his eyes and his body language that he didn’t want to be there.’’

Australia has won only one medal in boxing since 1960 and never has there been gold captured in the sweet science.

Julio La Cruz Peraza from Cuba is the favourite in the 81kg division but Hooper said he could go all the way. His next fight is against Mekhontcev on Saturday.

‘‘This Russian is a lot more tidy, a lot more experienced,’’ Hooper said.

‘‘He’s a really tough opponent and if I leave myself out there with a few punches he might catch me but I’m going to be a lot more sharp and a lot smarter than what I just was. He’s a quality fighter but hopefully that will bring out the quality in me.

‘‘I’m a whole different kind of fighter. He hasn’t fought anybody like me. I can box, I can move, I can come forward, I can slip out, come back, I can do all those things with confidence behind me and Australia behind me. I think I can win this gold medal.’’