Virginia Fuchs eliminated Mary Kom in the semi-finals of the 35th Boxam Tournament
March 6th, 2021 / IBA
The contests on the fourth competition day at the 35th edition of the Boxam Tournament in Castellon de la Plana, Spain decided the final pairs. United States’ Virginia Fuchs eliminated India’s Mary Kom in an excellent semi-final.
Altogether 127 boxers from 17 nations are attending the Boxam Tournament representing four Confederations. The tournament is held with strict Covid-19 policies.
United States’ Virginia Fuchs defeated India’s six-time AIBA Women’s World Champion Mary Kom once again
India’s six-time AIBA Women’s World Champion had a narrow victory in the quarter-finals over her 17-year-younger Italian opponent and she was expecting an even harder battle in the semi-finals. Her opponent, Virginia Fuchs, is the most experienced US women boxer who won dozens of international contests in the flyweight (51kg). The AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships bronze medallist, Fuchs tried to control the bout from the first exchanges and her strategy worked well enough. Fuchs landed the better punches especially in the third round and the judges picked her as the winner of this semi-final. Fuchs won the bout of the southpaw boxers in Castellon de la Plana and will face for the gold medal Russia’s Svetlana Soluianova.
‘I defeated Mary Kom one time previously in my career but repeating it was a great feeling again. I respect her previous titles, but I want to win all of my fights. I felt that she is tired in the second round and moved closer to her. I did not let her go for a long time and I succeeded in the semi-finals,’ said Virginia Fuchs after the bout.
The dream final takes place in the men’s flyweight (52kg): Escobar vs. Sabyrkhan
Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan won his first Asian title at the 2017 ASBC Asian Junior Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesa. Following that he claimed two further continental gold medals at the 2018 and 2019 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Bangkok and Ulaanbaatar. The 19-year-old super talented Kazakh boxer was highly confident and felt the tempo of his semi-final amazingly against Italy’s Federico Serra and proved his impressive skills. In the second semi-final of the flyweight (52kg), Spain’s European Games winner Gabriel Escobar had to do his best to beat France’s 20-year-old Ibrahim Boukedim. The Sabyrkhan vs. Escobar battle could be one of the most anticipated finals in the last competition day on Sunday.
Jean Paul Rivera’s energetic boxing delivered Puerto Rico’s final in Castellon
Puerto Rico’s Jean Paul Rivera achieved a silver medal at the light flyweight (49kg) in the Budapest 2018 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships at the age of 17. Since then, he joined the elite national team and moved up to the featherweight (57kg), furthermore, he was selected to compete at the Boxam Tournament before the American Olympic Qualifiers. The Puerto Rican boxer surprised Kazakhstan’s Tokyo Olympian Serik Temirzhanov with his intensity and number of punches. The Kazakh boxer, who claimed gold in the 2016 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships, didn’t move enough in the contest and the energetic Puerto Rican defeated Temirzhanov in a superb battle.
Day5 schedule
The fifth competition day of the Boxam Tournament will be closing the event with 15 final contests on Saturday, watch live here.
