Gripping Quarter-Finals leave 22 nations still on course for Olympic Quota Places in Venezuela
July 6th, 2016 / IBA
Tuesday in the Venezuelan city of Vargas saw a further eighteen contests of world-class boxing at the APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event. The light flyweight (49kg), bantamweight (56kg), middleweight (75kg), light heavyweight (81kg) and super heavyweight (+91kg) boxers were in action on Day Three, all with Olympic dreams driving them on. Of the 40 boxers now remaining in the competition, 26 will qualify for Rio 2016.
In the opening bout of the day, Argentina’s APB light flyweight Leandro Blanc overcame Trinidad & Tobago’s London 2012 Olympian Carlos Suarez with a controlled performance and will now face Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo in the last four. Quipo’s teammate Marlo Delgado progressed to the middleweight (75kg) semis with a comprehensive win over Dominican Republic’s Raul Sanchez, where he will meet Turkish veteran Onder Sipal for a place in the final.
“I did my very best in the bout since this is my last chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Our tactics were based around the accuracy of my punches and good footwork to confuse my opponent, and now I expect to win my forthcoming semi-final and take the ticket for Rio on Thursday,” said Ecuador’s 23-year-old Marlo Delgado.
Venezuela’s Endry Saavedra defeated Bulgarian Arman Hakobyan with some quick combinations and solid defences to set up a showdown with Xhek Paskali in the second middleweight semi-final, after the German had overcome tough fellow APB boxer Bogdan Juratoni.
Another talented Venezuelan, Edgar Ramon Munoz, dominated his super heavyweight (+91kg) quarter-final with Egypt’s Ahmed Samir Abdelmoaz Hefny and will meet the Venezuela Caciques’ WSB Draft Pick Cosme Dos Santos Nascimento in the next round following the Brazilian’s win over Hungarian APB boxer Istvan Bernath. Ukrainian super heavyweight (+91kg) Rostyslav Arkhypenko’s fast hooks and big uppercuts then surprised Russia’s former EUBC European Champion Magomed Omarov, earning him a unanimous decision and a place in the last four.
South Korea’s AIBA World Championship silver medallist and London 2012 Olympian Jonghun Shin again showed why he is considered one of the best light flyweights (49kg) in the world with a commanding win over Ukraine Otamans’ WSB talent Nazar Kurotchyn, setting up a mouthwatering semi-final against Mexico’s victorious Joselito Velasquez.
Kenyan bantamweight (56kg) Benson Gicharu Njangiru continued to build on his strong APB performances with a win over Italy’s Riccardo D’Andrea, and will look to use his growing confidence to negotiate a tricky semi-final against Venezuela’s Victor Rodriguez on Thursday for the all-important Rio 2016 Quota Place.
The result of the day came from Cameroon light heavyweight (81kg) Hassan N’Dam, a quarter-finalist at Athens 2004, as he delivered a superb performance to eliminate the American Jonathan Esquivel. N’Dam will now face strong Ukrainian Solonenko Denys, who came through his contest against Mexico’s Rogelio Romero convincingly, while Colombian Juan Carlos Carrillo meets Poland’s Tryc Mateusz Jerzy in the second semi-final.
