India’s Akash Kumar advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 AIBA Men’s Boxing Championships with a comprehensive win against Puerto Rico’s Caleb Tirado in Belgrade, Serbia on Sunday.
Both the boxers, playing their first match in the competition, started off on an aggressive note and traded punches continuously in the first two rounds of the 54kg last-16 encounter. The 21-year-old Indian got a walkover in his opening match while Tirade was given a bye in the first round.
The tallest of the two boxers, Akash made good use of his height and hit some sharp punches to tilt the momentum in his favor. Taking a comfortable lead after the first two rounds, Akash showed tactical brilliance and started keeping distance in the final round, leaving no chance for his opponent to make a comeback in the match.
With this dominating 5-0 win, Akash is now one win away from securing a medal for the country in the ongoing championship.
Later tonight, three more Indian boxers will play their respective pre-quarterfinals. In the +92kg category, Narendra will face veteran campaigner and 2006 Asian Games champion Jakhon Kurbanov of Tajikistan. While defending Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) and debutant Nishant Dev (71kg) will play against Georgia’s Giorgi Chigladze and Mexico’s Alvarez Verde, respectively.
Earlier, in the matches played late on Saturday, veteran boxer Shiv Thapa entered the last-16 stage with a comfortable 5-0 win over John Brown in the 63.5kg Round of 32 contest. The five-time Asian champion dominated his rival from Sierra Leone to continue his winning streak in the tournament.
Meanwhile, another Indian, Govind Sahani (48kg), ended his campaign in the pre-quarterfinal stage after a 4-0 loss against Gorgia’s Sakhil Alakhvardovi. Sachin Kumar also lost while fighting against Robby Gonzales of USA in 80kg last-32 match.
Out of the 13-member Indian contingent that took part in the prestigious world event, 10 Indian boxers made it to the pre-quarterfinal stage. Apart from Govind, who is out on Saturday, the challenge is still alive for the remaining nine boxers in the tournament, which sees tough competition amongst 650 top boxers from over 100 participating countries across the world.
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