This past week has seen the Asian Boxing Championships taking place in Tashkent at the Uzbekistan Sports Complex and today it was the semi-finals.
First up at flyweight (52kg) local man Jasurbek Latipov took on Kazakhstan’s Azamat Issakulov. Latipov was happy to fight on the back foot and wait for countering opportunities and the Uzbek landed the better shots in a foul filled encounter which saw both men docked points and Latipov won via split decision. The second semi saw Filipino Daniel Maamo face Koreas Kim Inkyu. Kim came out all guns blazing and took the fight to Maamo who struggled to cope with the pressure and volume of his opponent. Maamo was then buzzed by a right hand at the start of round 2 but the Filipino came back in to things as the stanza progressed. Maamo came out fast at the beginning of round 3 as the pair went to war in a furious 3 minutes of action. At the final bell it was Kim who was awarded the split verdict in a highly entertaining contest. Up at bantamweight (56kg) Olympic and world Medallist Murodjon Akhmadaliev faced Ham Younghun. Akhmadaliev, who has been in dynamic form during this tournament had his way with his Korean opponent and it really was man versus boy for the whole fight. The Uzbek pummelled Ham in round 1 and knocked him through the ropes with the Korean turning his back. The one way traffic continue before wisely Ham was pulled out in round 2. The other semi saw Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan take on Chinas Zhang Jiawei. Both men enjoyed success in what was a close and technical opening round. It was again pretty hard to split them in round 2 with Zhang just shading proceedings with some nice jabs. There were some neat bursts of quality punches from both in round 3 as things got slightly untidy but it was Zhang who was victorious via split decision in an engaging but not pulsating bout. Up at lightweight (60kg) Mongolia’s Otgondalai Dorjnyambuu took on India’s Shiva Thapa. Not much of significance was landed in the opening round. Thapa then picked up the pace in the next 2 rounds to grab a thoroughly deserved split decision over Dorjnyambuu in without doubt the Indians best display since moving up from bantamweight. The second lightweight semi saw Chinas Shan Jun square off against home favourite Elnur Abduraimov. Both had put on sparkling displays in Tashkent but it was Abduraimov who prevailed via unanimous decision. With the bout between Vikas Krishan and Lee Dongyun not taking place with the Korean winning via walk over, the other middleweight (75kg) semi-final saw Kazakhstan’s Abilkhan Amankul up against Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov. With a real contrast of styles there was much intrigue in this contest of 2 young prodigious talents but it was Madrimov who won the unanimous decision and booked his place in the final. It was then on to the light heavyweights as Uzbek Bektemir Melikuziev took on Chinas Huang Jiabin. Huang proved to be well out of his depth as the Olympic and world silver Medallist dispatched his opponent inside a round in an authoritative manor. Turkmenistan’s Nuryagdy Nuryadyyev faced Kazakhstan’s Yerik Alzhanov in the other semi. Unfortunately an accidental clash of heads brought an early end to proceedings with Alzhanov winning a split decision on the cards. The supreme Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan was up against Syria’s Alaa Eldin Ghoussoun in the heavyweight (91kg) category. In a pretty quiet opening round Ghoussoun suffered a cut to his right eye and was unable to continue with Levit gaining the unanimous points victory. India’s Sumit Sangwan squared off against Jakhon Qurbonov of Tajikistan in the other semi. Sangwan peppered Qurbonov with left hands in the opening round and the Indian’s superb foot work saw him continue to dominate throughout round 2. Qurbonov had some minor success in round 3 but it was nowhere near enough and Sangwan was declared the unanimous point’s victor in what was a fabulous display and a real treat to watch. The second session began with the light flyweights (49kg) as local hero Hasanboy Dusmatov clashed with India’s Amit Kumar. Given Dusmatov’s elite capabilities Kumar was always going to be up against it but the Indian wasn’t to be intimidated and he held his own against the reigning Olympic champion throughout. The defences of both men were extremely good which meant clean blows landed were at a premium in the first 2 rounds. Kumar landed some nice single shots in round 3 but it was the greater clusters from Dusmatov which saw him claim the unanimous decision but Kumar proved his quality and the 21-year-old looks a bright talent for the future. The other semi was contested between Erdeen Gan-Gankhuyag from Mongolia and Rogen Ladon from the Philippines. The pair traded heavy leather in the opening round with Ladon seemingly getting the better of proceedings with some big southpaw left hands. Gankhuyag responded well in round scoring with some big right hands as neither man refused to give an inch and there were some afters at the bell. The rough and tough nature of the contest continued but the Mongolian landed with the eye catching shots in the final round to earn a split decision in a really physical encounter. Next up it was the light welterweights (64kg) with Chinzorig Baatarsukh from Mongolia versus Nurlan Kobashev from Kirgizstan. Kobashev was the boxer on the front foot but Baatarsukh countered with ease in the first round and despite Kobashev’s further attempts at pinning his man down the Mongolian remained composed picking off his opponent with quality combinations. The fight continued in a similar pattern with Baatarsukh cruising home to a unanimous decision. It was a clash of the youngsters as Ikboljon Kholdarov from Uzbekistan went up against Bekdaulet Ibragimov from Kazakhstan. Kholdarov was looking to maintain distance and move around the ring whilst Ibragimov wanted things at close quarters and both had success in the opening stanza. Kholdarov took charge in round 2 and was even on the front foot in a highly entertaining 3 minutes of action. The fast pace continued and it was a real war of attrition as both boxers left it all on the line. At the final bell it was Kholdarov who was awarded the win via split decision in what was an absolute pleasure to have watched. The welterweights (69kg) then took to the ring with Shakhram Giyasov from Uzbekistan taking on Iran’s Sajjad Kazemzkdehposhtiri. Kazemzkdehposhtiri began brightly, managing to cut off the ring and land on the fleet footed Giyasov. The Iranian attempted to keep up his momentum in round 2 but Giyasov found his range and dug in but the Uzbek was deducted a point for use of the head. Kazemzkdehposhtiri landed a big right hand to start round 3 before a furious exchange took place between the pair. Giyasov then used his greater variety to take a unanimous decision in what was a tough bout for both boxers. The other semi saw Tuvshinbat Byanba from Mongolia facing Kazakhstan’s Ablaikhan Zhussupov. Zhussupov boxed beautifully in the opening stanza, scoring with southpaw jabs and bringing the left hand in to play in the later stages of the round. Round 2 was far more competitive but clashes of heads became fairly frequent and Byamba was deducted a point leaving him with a mountain to climb. Zhussupov was then docked a point for holding and a cut on the Kazak’s eye brought a premature finish to the contest with the judge’s verdict falling in favour of Zhussupov. Lastly it was the super heavyweights in action with Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov tackling Mohamad Mulayes. Jalolov obliterated Mulayes, hammering away with straight shots and thankfully the mismatch was stopped in the opening round. The final bout saw Kazak Kanshybek Kunkabayev square off against Hussein Iashaish from Jordan. The first round was devoid of much action before Iashaish had a point taken off in round 2 for punches behind the head and the Jordanians problems were increased as he was deducted another point for use of the inside of the glove. Iashaish came out needing a KO but a third infringement for use of the head saw him disqualified giving Kunkabayev the victory.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Guests!These articles are submitted by guest writers and sites. They aren't submitted by the usual folk behind Asian Boxing and don't fall in line with our editorial stance, giving a fresh view on various boxing issues from the Asian boxing scene. Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|