The second featherweight match this evening at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan between Sergey Vodopyanov of Russia and Kevin Rivers of the USA was potentially the match-up of the day, but the 21-year-old Russian made it look very easy. The final score - 13-1 - is a reflection of just how good a boxer Vodopyanov is.
"It was easier than expected," the 21-year-old said through Nikolay Khromov, head coach of the Russian national team and his coach of six years. "In spite of my young age I have been in the forefront of international boxing. At the 2004 Junior World Championships I lost in the final to Pál Bedák of Hungary, although that was in the 48kg weight class. From then on I kept moving up and up, and now I am in the featherweight."
Vodopyanov, who was born in Taldykorgan in present-day Kazakhstan, added: "I am studying to be a mining engineer, I just started my fifth year and when I finish my boxing career I want to make my living in the mining industry."
His coach said: "Everybody wants to be a world champion, and Sergey does again. His next opponent is Yasniel Toledo López of Cuba, and if he wants to get the gold medal he'll have to beat Vasyl Lomachenko as well. But nobody is unbeatable in this world."
Gyula Káté of Hungary is the elder statesman of Hungarian amateur boxing at the age of 27. The team captain changed coaches not long before the World Championships, teaming up with legendary veteran Imre Szántó, who coached one of the finest Hungarian boxers of all time, István "Kokó" Kovács, to one Olympic and two World Championship gold medals. He later went on to win a professional world title at featherweight as well.
Káté, the second seed at light-welterweight here in Milan, took on the tall Brazilian Myke Carvalho, whom he had beaten by a big margin two years ago in Chicago at the Worlds. This time it was not an easy task. Carvalho kept pace with Káté and the score was tied at 8-8 with 15 seconds to go when Káté scored twice to win the bout 10-8.
"I celebrated my 66th birthday yesterday," said the triumphant coach Szántó. "This contest was so nerve-racking that I felt as if Gyula had put salt on my chocolate birthday cake,"
he added, with a smile in the corner of his mouth.
"This has been my third bout here in a week," said Káté. "I am glad to make the quarter-finals, in spite of the fact that I have a shoulder injury. My right arm hurts, and I cannot punch as hard as I want to but it looks like it was hard enough this time."
Clemente Russo of Italy was the heavyweight world champion in Chicago in 2007, while Egor Mekhontsev of Russia won the European Championships in the same weight class last November in Liverpool. The two titans clashed on Tuesday night, and the home favourite's dreams of defending his title were destroyed by the younger and stronger Russian.
Mekhontsev dominated the bout, Russo was unable to play his usual game and the final score of 7-5 faithfully reflected the essence of the match. "Egor is a follower of the good old traditional boxing school," said the Russian coach Khromov. "Our game plan was to attack, attack and attack. I had been completely sure that Egor was a better boxer and he justified my thoughts."
Russo acknowledged: "He was simply stronger. This was my third match here at the World Championships, I was not fresh."