Following last month’s historic Pinchuk vs Graf bout on the Fury vs Klitschko undercard in Dusseldorf, the next phase of AIBA Pro Boxing involves a thrilling Saturday night of boxing in Kyiv this weekend. The city’s Palace of Sports venue will see Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov take on Ecuador’s Marlo Delgado ahead of K2 Promotions’ hotly anticipated headline event – the fans’ favourite and Olympic heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title fight against Cuba’s Pedro Rodriguez.
Middleweight Mytrofanov joined the Ukrainian national team in 2008 and has been building his way to the top ever since. Following two successful seasons with WSB, the 26 year-old joined the AIBA Pro Boxing circuit in October 2014, defeating Romania’s Bogdan Juratoni, Egypt’s Hossam Hussein Bakr Abdin (twice) and France’s Michel Tavares.
His opponent on Saturday night will be Ecuador’s London 2012 Olympian Marlo Delgado. “I am really excited to be a part of this APB match. Mytrofanov is a very strong boxer, but I have trained hard ahead of the bout and I’m confident that we can deliver a true showcase of boxing for the fans in Kyiv,” said Delgado ahead of the bout.
APB stars Mytrofanov and Delgado prepare for Kyiv contest on boxing’s big night in Ukraine
Another Ukrainian, the experienced light welterweight Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn, will also be entering the Palace of Sports ring on Saturday night, determined to round off the year with a precious win as he takes on Qatari APB newcomer Thulasi Tharumalingam.
“I hope to have a big home crowd behind me. The training sessions have gone great, I am in good shape and I am ready to put in a strong performance infront of my home fans,” said Kyslytsyn.
German-born Tharumalingam won his opening APB match in September against Ding Tianlong of China and will also need little motivation to get a result against the home boxer and go into the Olympic year on a high.
The quarterfinals schedule of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 has been determined, following an electric Opening Round (Games 1-30) that has generated record TV ratings in the host nation and concluded Sunday night with world No. 1 Japan and No. 7 Canada having gone undefeated to win their respective groups, while four of the Top 12 competing nations have been eliminated.
All four quarterfinals contests will take place on Monday in Taoyuan and Taichung (all times local):
Gm. 31: CAN (A1) vs MEX (B4) in Taichung at 12:30p
Gm. 32: CUB (A2) vs KOR (B3) in Taichung at 18:30
Gm. 33: USA (B2) vs NED (A3) in Taoyuan at 12:30p
Gm. 34: JPN (B1) vs PUR (A4) in Taoyuan at 18:30
The winner of Game 31 will face the winner of Game 33, while the winner of Game 32 will meet the winner of Game 34 in the semifinals.
Following the quarterfinals, the next phase of this new flagship global tournament will move to Japan’s Tokyo Dome, where the semifinals, bronze medal match and the Premier12 global championship finale (Games 35-38) will take place from 19-21 November.
NB: Dates for the semifinals (Games 35 on the 19th and 36 on the 20th) are subject to being changed for one another following the outcome of the quarterfinals.
Opening Round – Final Standings
Pos.Group A Wins Losses
1 Canada 5 0
2 Cuba 3 2
3 Netherlands 3 2
4 Puerto Rico 2 3
5 Chinese Taipei 2 3
6 Italy 0 5
Pos.Group B Win Losses
1 Japan 5 0
2 United States 3 2
3 S. Korea 3 2
4 Mexico 2 3
5 Venezuela 2 3
6 Dominican Rep. 0 5
All 38 games of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 are being live-streamed and free-to-view on the WBSC YouTube channel for those territories not covered by WBSC’s global broadcast partners.
Special real-time game coverage, instant replays via SnappyTV and post-game features are also being presented in collaboration with Twitter, the Official Social Media Partner of the WBSC Premier12.
Portugal will be the host of the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League Group 2 Finals, it was officially announced by FIVB.
The competition will be held over 9 and 10 July. The city will be confirmed at a later date. African Champions Egypt will be the African Representatives in the upcoming Group 2 of the World League after they won Group 3 in the 2015 edition.
Group 2 next year comprises of 12 teams who will compete in four-team pools over three weekends, before the top three plus hosts Portugal qualify to the Final Four.
Portugal to host 2016 World League Group 2 finals
The participating teams in Group 2 are Japan, the Netherlands, Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Korea, Portugal, Egypt, Turkey, Slovakia and China. The eight teams competing in Group 2 in 2015 (Cuba, Canada, Japan, Korea, Czech Republic, Portugal, Finland, Netherlands) have been joined by wild cards China, Turkey, Slovakia and 2015 Group 3 winners Egypt.
Venues for the Group 1 Final Six (13-17 July) and Group 3 Final Four (1-3 July) will be announced at a later date.
The 46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships concluded Sunday in Glasgow with new tours de force by Simone Biles and Kohei Uchimura, the queen and king of the individual All-around, each of whom now counts 10 World gold medals to their illustrious names.
Biles most golden of all time at Worlds
At just 18, Simone Biles is now the most golden female gymnast ever in World competition: Having already won the All-around and gold with the U.S. team earlier this week, Biles added golds on Balance Beam and Floor Exercise Sunday to her vast collection of World titles, bringing her total to 10 overall.
With her ninth and 10th victories at the world level, Biles surpassed the record previously held by greats Svetlana Khorkina, Larisa Latynina and Gina Gogean for most gold medals won by a woman in World Championship competition.
In a Beam final in which half the field fell, a clean set from Biles was all it took to keep her world title on the event, a full point above Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands. On Floor, Biles killed the suspense almost immediately, her superior difficulty and signature tumbling line lifting the smiling Texan above her high-flying competition. 2011 World Floor champion Ksenia Afanasyeva of Russia was the only gymnast who came close to challenging, finishing seven tenths behind, while Biles’s teammate Maggie Nichols took bronze.
46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, October 23 – November 1, 2015 in Glasgow, Great Britain
Uchimura, the gold standard
Already golden with the Japanese men’s team and in the Men’s All-around for the sixth straight World Championships, Kohei Uchimura’s midas touch continued as he too won the 10th World gold of his celebrated career. After finishing third in 2011 and 2013 and second last year on High Bar, Uchimura finally scaled the top of the podium on one of his best events. Impeccable to the tips of his toes, he topped American Danell Leyva, who hit the routine of his life to finish just 0.133 behind, and Cuba’s Manrique Larduet, who won bronze. Already considered the greatest gymnast of all time, Uchimura departs Glasgow with three World titles, two of which (team and High Bar) he has never won before.
“Dragulescuing” pays off for Dragulescu
The challenge was simple: Beat Marian Dragulescu at his own game. Competing at Worlds for the first time in four years, the master of the famous Vault that bears his name (two front flips with a half twist) returned for a round of “can-you-stick-this-better-than-I-can” in finals. Fourteen years after the Romanian won his first World title, only one person could: Dragulescu was edged by a mere 0.05 by reigning World champion Ri Se Gwang. In taking the gold, Ri, an innovator himself, performed his own siganture Vault (two backflips off the horse with a full twist). For good measure, he also threw a Dragulescu Vault of his own, this one in the piked position, even harder than the original.
Parallel Bars gold passes again under the yoke of the Chinese
Six of the past 10 World champions on Parallel Bars have held a Chinese passport, and You Hao once again put China’s seal on the event. After a superbly performed exercise with the highest difficulty component of any gymnast in the final, You succeeded in dethroning 2014 World champion Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine. After winning every competition he’s entered this year, Verniaiev, fourth in the Men’s All-around and on Vault, leaves with a single silver medal. In tying Azerbaijan’s Oleg Stepko, China’s Deng Shudi took bronze, his third of the competition.
Simone Biles (USA)
Olympic qualifiers
By dint of their medals Sunday, the following gymnasts have earned indivdual places to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games, provided their teams do not qualify to the Games at the Rio Test Event in April: Marian Dragulescu (ROU, silver on Men’s Vault), Pauline Schaefer (GER, bronze on Balance Beam) and Oleg Verniaiev (UKR, silver on Parallel Bars).
The following gymnasts, whose teams it has already been determined will not compete in Rio, advance directly to the Games: Manrique Larduet (CUB, bronze on High Bar), Ri Se Gwang (PRK, gold on Men’s Vault) and Oleg Stepko (AZE, bronze on Parallel Bars).
Since being crowned World champion for the first time in 2009, no one has been able to impede the royal march of Kohei Uchimura. Nobody did Friday night in Glasgow either, as the Japanese gymnast many call the greatest ever won his sixth consecutive World All-around title. Including the Olympic title he won in 2012, Uchimura has now dominated World competition for seven straight years.
Liberated by the Japanese men’s victory in the team competition for the first time in 37 years Wednesday night, Uchimura sailed through the Men’s All-around final, smiling and pumping his fists after each hit routine. Overall, he accumulated 92.332 points, a comfortable 1.634 ahead of the rest of the pack.
With his unique mix of power, elegance, fluidity and catlike stuck landings on his dismounts, Uchimura at times seemed to come close to the thing he seeks above all: perfection. With his high-flying performance on High Bar — and stuck landing on his dismount — he broke his own record for consecutive wins at Worlds. Normally reserved, he acknowledged the occasion by counting to six with his fingers in front of the camera.
“Throughout the competition I felt very strong emotions,” Uchimura said. “I have not been thinking about the number of medals. I just thought about the quality of my performance. In competition, I think about how I can move the audience with my gymnastics.”
In the same manner that he crushed the competition in the runup to the London Olympics, the 26-year-old has dominated the pre-Rio cycle. If all continues to go well, he will arrive in Brazil nine months from now the favorite to defend the Olympic title he won in 2012.
Uchimura already has 18 World medals, including nine gold. But before he can start thinking about another Olympics, there is still a small business matter to attend to: the High Bar final, to be held Sunday afternoon in Glasgow.
46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, October 23 – November 1, 2015 in Glasgow, Great Britain
Seven years of domination
In 2009, Uchimura won his first World title, beating Britain’s Daniel Keatings by 2.575 points (91.500-88.925).
In 2010, Uchimura won his second World title, beating Germany’s Philipp Boy by 2.283 points (92.331-90.048).
In 2011, Uchimura won his third World title, beating Boy again by 3.101 (93.631-90.530).
In 2012, Uchimura won his first Olympic All-around title, beating Germany’s Marcel Nguyen by 1.659 points (92.690-91.031).
In 2013, Uchimura won his fourth World title, beating Japan’s Ryohei Kato by 1.958 points (91.990-90.032).
In 2014, Uchimura won his fifth World title, beating Britain’s Max Whitlock by 1.492 points (91.965-90.473).
In 2015, Uchimura won his sixth World title, defeating Cuba’s Manrique Larduret by 1.634 points (92.332-90.698).
Manrique Larduet, the Cuban surprise
After several years’ absence, Cuba made a big return to the World stage with the talented Manrique Larduet. Just 19 years old and with few international competitions under his belt, Larduet proved himself stronger than every other gymnast save Uchimura Friday night. In clinching the silver, the powerful Larduet showed the form and sangfroid of a champion, calmly hitting every routine. If anything, the Pan American Games silver medallist was too powerful — during his Floor routine, he seemed to be landing on a trampoline. With a stronger exercise on Pommel Horse, he might have challenged Uchimura more. “I am really proud to represent my country and to be with these amazing gymnasts,” Larduet said. “I’m also really proud to win this medal for my country.” Fourteen years after Cuba’s first World medals in Men’s Gymnastics, the country has a new star.
China’s Deng pops in for bronze
If Larduet’s silver was unexpected, so too was Deng Shudi’s bronze, which made him the first Chinese man to mount the podium in World All-around competition since 2007. Though solid everywhere, Deng was spectacular only on Parallel Bars, where he attained the second highest score of any competitor. In a competition where steadiness over six pieces serves a gymnast better than flash on a few, the fact that Deng didn’t fall and others did helped him clinch a medal when all was said and done. “I have made my aims come true,” said Deng, who also won bronze with the Chinese team. “But I still have a lot of work to do in order to increase my skills. We want to have better results in the team finals.”
Deng Shudi (CHN), Kohei Uchimura (JPN) and Manrique Larduet (CUB)
For Verniaiev and Whitlock, disappointment
Much to the disappointment of the pro-British crowd that had hoped to see one of their gymnasts mount the podium again, 2014 World silver medallist Max Whitlock took himself out of contention with a fall from the High Bar on his penultimate event. Billed as the only man with the potential to knock Uchimura from the top place on the podium, a stumble on Floor and a fall on Pommel Horse put Oleg Verniaiev in a deep hole from the beginning. The pressure off, the Ukrainian seemed to relax and delivered good scores everywhere else, particularly on Parallel Bars, where he will defend his World title this weekend. Verniaiev ended fourth, Whitlock fifth.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced the prize money distribution for the first-ever WBSC Premier12™ global baseball championship, which will be staged from 8-21 November in Japan and Taiwan.
The WBSC will award US$ 3.8 million for the 38-game world baseball competition that will bring together the Top 12 nations (the “Premier12”) in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.
The 2015 Premier12 winner will be awarded US$ 1.0 million, while each participating National Team will be guaranteed at least US$ 150,000 for less than two weeks of competition. The overseeing National Federations will distribute a minimum of 50 per cent of the prize money to the competing athletes.
2015 WBSC PREMIER12 PRIZE MONEY ALLOCATION
Position
Prize Money ($US)
Winner
1,000,000
2nd Place
600,000
3rd place
400,000
4th place
300,000
5-8th place
225,000 each
9-12th place
150,000 each
Total
3,800,000
The 2015 WBSC Premier12 will be the top international baseball event of the year, not only offering the largest purse but also the highest payout of world ranking points.
Earning the right to compete in the WBSC Premier12 are world No. 1 Japan, No. 2 United States, No. 3 Cuba, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Netherlands, No. 6 Dominican Republic, No. 7 Canada, No. 8 South Korea, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Venezuela, No. 11 Italy and No. 12 Mexico.
Top-ranked Japan and rival South Korea will meet in the first-ever WBSC Premier12 contest on 8 November at the 40,000-seat Sapporo Dome.
Among tune-up contests for the WBSC Premier12, South Korea will host Cuba for two games to officially open the new Gocheok Sky Dome, the first domed baseball stadium in the nation, from 4-5 November.
The final night of the 2015 World Boxing Championships brought Doha’s boxing fans to their feet as five world champions – at flyweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and super heavyweight – were crowned on a historic night in Qatar.
Cuba Domadores’ flyweight Yosbany Veitia and Baku Fires’ European Games Champion Elvin Mamishzada displayed similar game-plans early on, but it was the Azeri who’s patient tactics paid off. Veitia was left chasing the match, and Mamishzada chose his moments well to precision counter and take the title.
Defending World Champion Lazaro Alvarez started cautiously against unbeaten Azeri Albert Selimov. With the Selimov struggling to get close enough to the Cuban to threaten, he was cut at the end of the second round, leaving the referee no choice but to award a technical knockout – and deserved third World Championship gold – to Alvarez.
In the welterweight final, Morocco’s newly crowned WSB Boxer of the Year Mohammed Rabii dominated defending champion Daniyar Yeleussinov from the centre of the ring. The Kazakh star tried to launch his usual aggressive attacks, but as he struggled to hit the target, a delighted Rabii struck gold.
Irish light heavyweight Joe Ward presented Julio la Cruz with the biggest test of his Doha campaign so far, but the AIBA Boxer of the Year looked focused on a third successive world title. After the Cuban captain took the first two rounds, Ward’s late rally wasn’t enough, and la Cruz, every bit the champion throughout the tournament, retained the gold in style.
Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko was looking to go one better than his silver medal two years ago, but was unable to raise his energy levels after a gruelling tournament, leaving Tony Yoka – the man who overcame Joe Joyce in the semi-finals – to be France’s first World Champion since Willy Blain in 2003.
Earlier in the session, the box-off for a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games between Elnur Abduraimov and Brazil’s Robson Conceicao saw a delighted Uzbekistan lightweight qualify, along with China’s Wei Liu, who had a walkover against Aerbaijan’s Parviz Baghirov.
The 2015 World Boxing Championships ended with 4 golds for Cuba, 2 for Russia and one apiece for Azerbaijan, France, Ireland and Morocco, with the latter two making history with their first ever AIBA World golds.
Morocco Make History And France, Cuba And Russia Celebrate Champions On Golden Finals Night Of AIBA World Boxing Championships Doha 2015
Wednesday night was finals night in Doha, and confirmation of the first five World Champions at light flyweight, bantamweight, light welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight at a packed Ali Bin Hamad Ali Attiyah Arena.
Russia’s WSB southpaw Vasilii Egorov faced off against fleet-footed Cuban Joahnys Argilagos in the opening bout. Argilagos’ greater agility proved decisive in all three rounds, the Cuban becoming the first World Champion of 2015.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev was immediately on the front foot against Michael Conlan, but the Irish captain responded well in the second round and despite hitting the canvas in the third, he had already done enough to win the bout and become Ireland’s first-ever World Champion.
“I came out for the gold medal and I got it, I’m absolutely delighted, thrilled. I would like to thank my coaches and my family and everyone for the tremendous support here all week, the supporters were fantastic. I knew he was going to be tough and that’s the way it turned out. I’ll be going to Rio as the world champion. I’ll have to wait for that to sink in,” said a delighted Conlan afterwards.
Russia’s Vitaly Dunaytsev did just enough in the edgy opening rounds against Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov to take the light welterweight gold medal, the reigning European Champion adding World Champion title to an impressive season.
Previously unbeaten Bektemir Melikuziev’s counter-attacking style had taken him all the way to Wednesday’s middleweight final against Arlen Lopez. The Cuban didn’t give his Uzbek opponent any opportunities to score enough meaningful punches in the first two rounds, however, and despite a late rally, it was Lopez who took the World Champion title.
Erislandy Savon relied heavily on his strong counter punches against Russian Evgeny Tishchenko in the opening round of the heavyweight final. Tishchenko’s front-foot attack gave him the advantage, before the Cuban came back strongly in round two. It wasn’t to be Savon’s night, however, as the Russian prevented a Havana hat-trick of golds to take the title.
Earlier in the session, box-offs between four bronze medalists saw Olympic qualification move a huge step closer for Belarusian bantamweight Dzmitry Asanau and Egypt’s middleweight Hosam Abdin, while Wuttichai Masuk was awarded a walkover, with Cuban Yasniel Toledo unable to box for medical reasons.
Wednesday is the first of two finals day at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Doha, and as the only non-Cuban, Uzbek or Russian boxer to feature, Ireland captain Michael Conlan will be even more determined to land a gold medal in the bantamweight class.
First up in the light flyweight category, however, will be Cuba’s 18 year-old WSB champion Joahnys Oscar Argilagos Perez and Vasilii Egorov of Russia. The youngest member of the Cuban team notched up five wins in his first season of WSB and would seal a memorable debut year at this level with a win against the European Confederation Champion.
Conlan faces Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in his final, who came through a tough semi-final against India’s Shiva Thapa. If form is anything to go by, however, the more experienced Irishman – sixth in 2011 and 2013 – will be confident of a gold medal.
Russia’s emerging WSB star Vitaly Dunaytsev and Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov defeated the number one and two seeds respectively in their semi-finals on Sunday. Both will go into the light welterweight final with high hopes of a gold medal, with the Uzbek hoping to use his greater experience over the 23 year-old.
Cuba’s top seed Arlen Lopez saw off Egypt’s Hosam Abdin and Bektemir Melikuziev made light work of Michael O’Reilly in their Sunday semi-finals, setting up what could be the bout of the day from the two middleweight gold-seekers if the Uzbek can get close enough to his fleet-footed opponent.
Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko has produced a heavyweight boxing masterclass so far in the championships, showing impressive form matched only by that of his opponent in the final, Erislandy Savon. The Russian southpaw will be eager to banish memories of the World Championships final defeat in Almaty two years ago, but Cuba’s WSB champion will certainly have other ideas.
Monday evening’s semi-final session of the AIBA World Championships in Doha saw another ten bouts of exhilarating boxing as the best of the flyweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and super heavyweight categories – including three Cubans – punched their way through to Thursday night’s finals.
China’s Hu Jianguan had surprised the boxing world when he defeated Uzbekistan’s Shakhobiddin Zoirov and Kazakhstan’s Olzhas Sattibayev to setup the semi-final with WSB Individual Champion Yosbany Veitia Soto.
The Cuban proved too hot for the 22-year-old flyweight to handle, however, and he will now meet Azerbaijan’s 2015 European Games winner Elvin Mamishzada. The Azeri needed only 110 seconds to knock down Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi thanks to a flourish of left hooks.
Julio La Cruz leads Cuba’s unstoppable charge to the finals of the 2015 World Boxing Championships
Another Cuban, Lazaro Alvarez, kept his hopes of a third consecutive world title alive after defeating the much-improved Elnur Abduraimov. He will have to overcome Albert Selimov in the final after the Azerbaijan giant of WSB narrowly edged past Brazil’s Robson Conceicao.
With the crowd finding its voice, Ireland’s Joe Ward dug deep to take a deserved win over Uzbekistan’s Elshod Rasulov, and the volume was turned up to eleven for the arrival of Cuba’s Julio La Cruz. It was another virtuoso performance from the team captain against Russia’s Pavel Silyagin who, despite landing some strong blows in a riveting final round, couldn’t get to grips with La Cruz who will face Ward in Thursday’s final.
“My tactics are based on a lot of footwork and quick movements and I try to exploit my opponent’s faults in the bout. My coach told me what I had to do in the semi-final and what not, he knew my Russian opponent. I am a counter-attacking boxer which is perfect for me and I hope the Cuban fans were satisfied with me today,” said La Cruz
The super heavyweights wrapped up the semi-finals, with Kazakhstan’s world number one Ivan Dychko in imperious form against Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov. He will face Tony Yoka after the Frenchman beat Britain’s European Games gold medalist Joe Joyce 3:0.
Rogen Ladon’s remarkable World Championship campaign finally came to an end on Sunday night as Russia, Uzbekistan and Cuba saw three boxers go through to Wednesday’s finals.
Ladon lost an incredibly close opening contest with fellow southpaw Vasilii Egorov, who will now face Joahnys Argilagos in the light flyweight final after the Cuban defeated Ukraine’s Dmytro Zamotaev.
Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev got through a bruising but brilliant encounter with India’s Shiva Thapa, followed by an equally engrossing bout between Ireland’s Michael Conlan and Belarusian Dzmitry Asanau. The two well-matched boxers playing their part in another exquisite semi-final, with Conlan’s greater mobility and swift counters taking him through to meet the Akhmadaliev.
Ireland’s Conlan reaches bantamweight final as Cuba, Russia and Uzbekistan dominate on first night of semis
“I’m really looking forward to the final now. The lads told me I needed to win the third round and I was confident. I kept my cool and held by patience, I didn’t panic. I just knew I had to keep to my game plan because he [Asanau] was going to fold – he’s only a young lad,” said Conlan after the bout.
The middleweight battle between Arlen Lopez and Egypt’s Hosam Abdin was decided by the Cuban’s more accurate punching, underlining his value to a team he only joined in 2014. Michael O’Reilly’s highly anticipated bout against Bektemir Melikuziev lived up to the billing, with remarkable agility from both corners providing the standout match of the day that the Uzbekistan boxer edged.
In the heavyweight category, Cuba’s WSB giant Erislandy Savon looked every bit the world beater against Azerbaijan’s Abdulkadir Abdulllayev, but he will have his work cut out to defeat the statuesque Evgeny Tishchenko and claim gold on Wednesday. The efficient Russian was ruthless against Ukrainian Gevorg Manukian in the final bout of the evening, and now has 48 hours to recover ahead of the gold-medal match.
Watch all the second semi-final action unfold live from 5.30pm (CET) on Monday http://www.aiba.org
After 163 gripping bouts of boxing, Friday night brought the preliminary rounds of the 2015 AIBA World Championship to a close. Out of the 80 boxers left in the competition, nine Cubans remain, along with seven Azerbaijanis and seven Uzbekistanis – the three countries leading the team competition on the eve of the quarter-finals.
Cuba’s Julio La Cruz lights up the ring as AIBA World Championship quarter finalists are confirmed on a dazzling fourth day in Doha
And it was Cuba’s light heavyweight Julio La Cruz who got the crowd on its feet, dancing his way out of trouble time and time again against Joshua Buatsi. La Cruz had to get himself up, too, after a big right from the Brit had him on the canvas midway through the second round, but the Cuban WSB star was well ahead at the final bell, setting up a quarter-final contest with AOB’s tough Croatian Hrvoje Sep.
Earlier in the day, Ireland’s fellow light heavyweight Joseph Ward and Kazakhstan’s much-fancied Adilbek Niyazymbetov had secured their safe passage to the next round.
In the evening’s lightweight match-ups, experienced Azerbaijani Albert Selimov held off a determined challenge from Ireland’s Sean McComb to set up a rematch of the European Games final against France’s Sofiane Oumiha on Saturday evening.
Brazil’s Robson Donato Conceicao showed why he will be among Brazil’s gold medal hopes at Rio 2016 with some swift attacking and solid defence against the resilient Russian Adlan Abdurashidov. He will go on to face Joseph Cordina in Saturday’s quarter-final after the Brit proved too strong for North Korea’s Kwon Choi Guk.
Britain’s Josh Kelly was in ruthless mood against New Zealander Joshua Nyika in their welterweight clash. His resounding 3:0 win set up a mouthwatering quarter final bout with Mohammed Rabii, unbeaten in season V of WSB, after he defeated Argentine Alberto Palmetta.
The big super heavyweights closed out Friday’s action, with Joe Joyce and Mohammed Arjaoui struggling to land any meaningful blows as Joyce won through, while France’s huge Tony Yoka overcame China’s Zhibao Wang in an exhausting exchange of mutual boxing prowess.
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