The featherweight division's top boxer, Ukraine's European Junior Championships silver medalist Arsen Ablayev, made a successful debut in Astana and triumphed over Aleksey Borisov of Belarus by 16:9 yesterday. His next opponent for the medal will be Ilyas Isayev of Russia and a win would offer Ablayev a certain revenge, because he lost to Isayev's compatriot in Keszthely.
The AIBA Junior World Championships continued with its third competition day in Astana, Kazakhstan where boxers from the 48, 52, 57, 63, 70 and 80kg weight divisions fought for qualification for the Top8.
In the light flyweight class Kazakhstan's newcomer Zangar Temirkhan continued the host nation's great series and defeated Dominican Republic's Panamerican Junior Champion Elvis Severino Rodriguez by 17:14 and will face Moldova's only competitor, Mihail Cvasiuc, for a medal.
Tajikistan's Asror Vokhidov followed his opening victory against Australia's Liam Wilson by qualifying for the quarter-final on the back of a win against Armenia's Erik Petrosyan. The referee stopped the bout after Vokhidov's powerful head blows when the Tajik boxer was leading by 15:3 in the second round of the contest. The strong Central Asian boxer will be fighting against India's favourite Lalitha Prasad Polipalli, who eliminated England's European Junior Championships silver medalist Luke McCormack.
In the light bantamweight division Philippines' Zamboanga-based Eumir Felix Marcial defeated Armenia's Henrik Oganisyan by a close 11:9 in the light bantamweight class. His next rival will be Azerbaijan's European Junior Championships bronze medalist Nasraddin Mammadov in the quarter-final stage of the championships.
Belarus's European Schoolboys Championships bronze medalist Eduard Vaha became the first to eliminate a Kazakh boxer in the championships. Vaha defeated local Rauan Zatulla by 15:13 and will face Algeria's great prospect Chemseddine Kramou in the light bantamweight quarter-final, while Germany's new surprise Wladislaw Bartyshnik won his second bout in Astana.
Pakistan's only competitor in the championships, Hassan Mahmood, secured his second victory in Astana and advanced to the quarter-final after stopping Mongolia's Nyamosor Batmunkh, while the main featherweight favourite Huascar Ramirez of the Dominican Republic also finished his fight against Iraq's Hussein Ali Al-Hraishawi before the final gong.
Kazakhstan's Eurasian Junior Games winner Kayirgeldi Dauitbek is the top favourite in the light welterweight class and his early victory against Belarus's 15-year-old Ilyas Odinayev was not a surprise. He will need to beat Turkey's Hasan Ozan for a medal.
Arif Hossain of Bangladesh had a brave attempt at winning his bout against defending European Junior Champion Isaac McLeod but the English boxer after eased ahead to victory and can expects a huge battle against Batzorig Otgonjargal of Mongolia in the next round.
Italy's 16-year-old Salvatore Cavallaro failed to take a medal in Keszthely but he fought out another chance for himself in Astana by eliminating Ukraine's European Junior Championships silver medalist Oleksandr Khyznyak by accepted scores, despite a great final round by the Ukrainian boxer. He will face Kazakhstan's Daulet Baygabatov in the middleweight quarter-final.
Russian Junior National Champion and Khromov Junior Tournament winner Lendrush Akopyan took his first step on the road to the final. The Moscow-based middleweight athlete gathered the points against Hungary's Daniel Csutak and advanced to the quarter-final, where his opponent will be Bulgaria's Blagoy Naydenov.
Germany's heavyweight National Champion Melvin Perry is the oldest participant in the tournament but he is also famous for his power. The ringside doctor suspended his unequal contest against Kyrgyzstan's Temirlan Raimbekov's in the first round due to injury.
Australia's best heavyweight fighter Jai Opetaia had enough experience to eliminate Turkey's Zinnar Kizilay and will fight for a medal against Kazakhstan's Tilek Kozbakov, who shocked Nadir Colpa of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the first preliminary round.
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