The Uzbek Tigers were once again able to show their burgeoning WSB prowess on Saturday night as the new franchise repeated their impressive Quarter-Final first-leg performance in Russia with another 3-2 away win to take their place in the Semi-Finals. The 6-4 aggregate result sets up what could be the match of the season so […]
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.
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.
It was a good start to day four of the 2015 AIBA World Championships for the Uzbekistan team, with three boxers progressing through to the quarter finals despite a surprise defeat for Shakhobiddin Zoirov at the hands of China’s fleet-footed WSB boxer Hu Jianguan.
Cuba’s two-time PanAmerican Games champion Leinier Pero could find no answers to the attacks of Uzbekistan’s promising Bakhodir Jalolov, who has already won four international AOB tournaments in 2015 and made it to the quarter-finals of the super heavyweight class.
Filipino welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial took on Spain’s Youba Ndiaye Sissokho with renewed vigour following a pep-talk with his idol Manny Pacquiao the day before, and Marcial grew stronger as the contest went on to comfortably progress.
“I was so excited going in to the championship knowing that my idol Manny Pacquiao would be coming to Qatar. His advice was to dominate the bout and be aggressive and I knew after the first round I could do that and enjoy the contest,” said Marcial after the match.
Two-time EUBC European light heavyweight Champion Joseph Ward may only be 22 years old, but he clearly thrives on the biggest stages. The Irish APB boxer had a stern test in the form of Ukraine’s AIBA Youth World Champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak, but he found his reach in the second round to edge through to the quarters.
Earlier on in the flyweight class, Venezuela’s AMBC American Champion Yoel Finol suffered a surprise defeat to Colombia’s Ceiber David Avila, while Kazakhstan’s WSB giant Olzhas Sattibayev narrowly overcame Bulgaria’s teenage sensation Daniel Asenov in a thrilling contest.
Kazakhstan also boast a strong pedigree in the welterweight class, and defending AIBA World Champion and WSB team champion Daniyar Yeleussinov marched on in the competition by defeating Belarusian Pavel Kastramin.
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