Reigning World Champions begin their title defences as Day Three of 2017 World Championships brings the heat in Hamburg
August 27th, 2017 / IBA
The third day of boxing at the AIBA World Championships saw a host of World and Olympic medallists take to the ring, and 40 boxers made their way safely through to the Quarter-Finals and now find themselves just one bout away from a podium finish
THREE ROUNDS FROM DAY THREE
ROUND ONE: New Zealand’s new 91kg contender
It was back in 1991 that the mighty Heavyweight David Tua won a bronze in Sydney, the last time that a New Zealander could celebrate winning a World Championship medal. On Day Three in Hamburg, David Niyaka proved that he is equally capable of a podium finish of his own at 91kg with a superb performance against Germany’s Igor Teziev. Standing in his way on Tuesday? None other than Olympic Champion Evgeny Tishchenko.
ROUND TWO: Champions turn up the heat
Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko and Cuba’s Johanys Argilagos and Arlen Lopez were all made to work hard as they began their World title defences with hard-fought victories on Sunday. Olympic Champion Hasanboy Dusmatov and Rio 2016 medallists Yuberjen Martinez, Vassiliy Levit, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Erislandy Savon, Artem Harutyunyan all earned themselves a place in the last eight.
ROUND THREE: Have we seen The Future?
Ben Whittaker beat Kenya’s John Kyalo on the opening day in Hamburg with a unanimous points win, but even better was to come on Sunday evening when the English Middleweight nicknamed The Future made light work of Indian third-seed Krishan Vikas. Can the technical 20-year-old now make it through a Quarter-Final against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzniak on Tuesday to secure a medal on World Championship debut?
DAY THREE RECAP
In Sunday’s opening bout, Cuba’s Johanys Argilagos successfully negotiated a stern test at the hands of Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo, before the volume inside the Sportshalle rose once more for the arrival of Germany’s Salah Omar, who rocked Kenya’s Bakari Hassan with a huge left at the end of round one to help set him on course for the Quarter-Finals.
In one of the results of the session, it was some smart boxing from Kazakhstan Bantamweight (56kg) Kairat Yeraliev that saw him emerge victorious against Uzbekistan’s top-seeded Murodjon Akhmadaliev, and an entertaining bout of a different kind saw Leonel de Los Santos narrowly defeat Italian Raffaele De Serio. The Dominican will meet England’s European Champion Peter McGrail who looked sharp during his lively win over Nicaragua’s Angel Jarquin.
A gutsy performance from Egypt’s Light Welterweight (64kg) Eslam Mohamed’s then brought victory against Azeri Lorenzo Sotomayor, before an excellent opening round from Artem Harutyunyan set him on the way to the last eight with a win against England’s Luke McCormack.
Defending Middleweight (75kg) Champion Arlen Lopez looked back to his best early on against Italy’s Salvatore Cavalarro, the Cuban powerhouse putting his opponent on the canvas in the first round of his 2017 campaign opener, before the Italian conjured up a brave finale to make the Olympic gold medallist work hard for the win.
Another of the reigning World and Olympic Champions stepped in at Heavyweight (91kg), with Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko taking on Deivis Julio Blanco. The Colombian enjoyed some excellent spells of pressure, but it was the ruthless Tishchenko who progressed and will now meet New Zealand’s David Niyaka, after his composed and powerful showing against Germany’s Igor Teziev.
In the evening session, Olympic silver medallist Yuberjen Martinez of Colombia put in a superb three rounds of Light Flyweight (49kg) boxing to eliminate England’s Galal Yafai, before Tunisia’s Bilel Mhamdi progressed to the Bantamweight (56kg) Quarter-Finals with a win over Argentine Alberto Melian. Armenian Light Welterweight (64kg) Hovhannes Bachkov maintained his good momentum from the EUBC Championships with victory over Kazakh Bekdaulet Ibragimov.
Cuba’s Andy Gomez was untouchable for long periods of his contest with Ireland’s ever-entertaining Sean McComb and and will now meet Dominican Elvis Rodriguez in Tuesday’s Light Welterweight (64kg) Quarter-Finals. Kazakhstan’s experienced Rio 2016 silver medallist Vasily Levit will be hoping that this year is his time for a World Championship podium finish, and a unanimous points win against Brazil’s Juan Goncalves served as a convincing start to his campaign.
