Fifteen bouts were held on the second competition day of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games at the Seonhak Gymnasium, with the highlight undoubtedly being Kazakhstan’s silent star Ilyas Suleimenov celebrating one of his best ever performances.

Bout of the day
Kazakhstan’s AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifiers winner and London 2012 Olympian Ilyas Suleimenov has not been lucky with draws in recent time, having had to meet with top boxers in the first preliminary round of previous AIBA and ASBC events, and a similar story happened in Incheon.

Kazakhstan’s Flyweight class (52 kg) number had to open his tournament against Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee, who reached his career highlight at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty last year when he claimed an excellent bronze medal.

Suleimenov was more than motivated after some unexpected recent losses, and gave a boxing lesson to the Thai veteran in the first round.

After Butdee was counted by the Irish referee, the bout was all but wrapped up for Suleimenov, despite a great last round from the Thai athlete.

Team of the day
Japan’s Tosho Kashiwasaki was their number two at the Light Flyweight class (49 kg) in the last Olympic era behind talented Naoya Inoue, and he was a bronze medallist in the 2013 ASBC Asian Continental Championships in Amman.

The 23-year-old is a student at the Chiyoda-ku Tokyo University, and twice knocked down his inexperienced opponent, Kuwait’s Fahad Al-Bathali in advancing to the next stage of the Asian Games.

Japan’s second success in the second competition day was achieved by their most experienced athlete, Masatsugu Kawachi who was a bronze medallist at the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Chicago.

The boxer had a surprise loss in the last edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, but made up for it in his opening Incheon contest, winning an entertaining fight against India’s Commonwealth Games winner Manoj Kumar.

Surprise of the day
Pakistan’s Aamir Khan caused a huge surprise in the last edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou when he defeated Japan’s AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Masatsugu Kawachi in the opening round.

Since then he has been unable to repeat that performance, but the Asian Games must bring out the best in him, as the 23-year-old Light Welterweight class (64 kg) boxer defeated Jordan’s great prospect, and Arab Games winner Seif Emad Qraish.

Ones to watch
Uzbekistan’s Summer Universiade winner Hasanboy Dusmatov has won several international tournaments in Europe and Asia, and has become a competitive rival for World number one Birzhan Zhakipov.

Dusmatov controlled his opening bout against China’s tough AIBA Youth World Champion 20-year-old Lu Bin, with the final verdict of the bout a unanimous decision victory for Dusmatov.

Korea’s China Open Tournament silver medallist Choe Sang Don has defeated Russian Chinese, North Korean and French boxers this year in various international events, and the home favourite southpaw boxer dominated the first two rounds against Bhutan’s Kinley Gyeltshen, while keeping enough energy to stave off further attacks in the last three minutes of the contest.

Mongolia’s Battarsukh Chinzorig claimed a gold medal at the Military World Championships in Almaty in June when he defeated Brazil’s AIBA World Champion Everton Lopes.

The 23-year-old Light Welterweight class (64 kg) boxer replaced London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist Uranchimeg Munkherdene in the national squad, and Chinzorig’s first opponent was Southeast Asian Games winner Dennis Galvan who was not a competitive rival for the Mongolian hope in Incheon.

Stat/Fact of the day
Philippines’ ASBC Asian Youth Continental Champion Ian Clark Bautista was the youngest winner of the second competition day, as the Flyweight class (52 kg) boxer demonstrated his power against Jordan’s Abdallah Maher Mohammad Shamon and advanced to the last 16.

Japan and Pakistan continued their excellent performances in Incheon, while the top Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan performed much better than they had on Day 1.

Quote of the day
“Our Flyweight class (52 kg) hope Ian Clark Bautista boxed very well as we expected prior the Asian Games but I was a bit disappointed with Lopez’s performance who should have been fought better. We are very happy with the results so far but we know we have a long way to go. Today’s fights were good gauges of our strengths and weaknesses. We were very pleased with the wins of Bautista and Barriga. This is the kind of game that the Filipino fighter is known for: speed and cunning. We are disappointed with the loss of Galvan, it is the second time he lost to the Mongolian boxer. As many observers will tell you the strength of the Philippine team is with our men and our women. We hope we can translate that observation into medals by the end of the Asian Games in Incheon”, summarized Mr. Edgar Picson, the Executive Director of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines.

Tomorrow’s program
The local spectators will be able to watch and follow twenty-six contests on the third competition day, with the following weight classes in action:

Men’s Bantamweight class (56 kg), Men’s Lightweight class (60 kg), Men’s Light Heavyweight class (81 kg), Men’s Heavyweight class (91 kg) and Men’s Super Heavyweight class (+91 kg).

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