Uzbekistan supreme; Pakistan finish third

KARACHI, June 25: Uzbekistan were crowned inaugural Asian junior boxing kings with Pakistan grabbing two gold medals including Ali Mohammad’s debatable victory over Uzbek Shayimov Orzubek on Saturday.

Not only the Uzbeks scooped-up the highest number of golds – five – apart from a silver and three bronze, they were at the top of the points table with 20 points, followed by Kazakhstan who snatched three gold, silver and bronze each, while Pakistan finished third with two gold and silver each and three bronze.

The two powerhouses Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan met twice during the finals but eventually the Uzbeks proved their superiority both times and won the bouts with ease at KPT Sports Complex.

Abidjonov Dilshod of Uzbekistan did not face much resistance to win the light-heavyweight gold after prevailing over Kazakhstan’s Ruzdybayev Mukhtar who lost 36-26 when referee stopped the contest in the fourth round because of head injury to the Kazakh.

Heavyweight Muraliov Ahror won another gold for Uzbekistan after a 41-35 victory over hapless Kazakh Chemikov Vasiliy.

While Vasiliy was on the defensive from the beginning, Ahror was aggressive and gave his opponent no room to recover. After being thrashed in the third round, Kazakh buckled in the fourth after a barrage of punches by Ahror, resulting in eight counts for Vasiliy.

Featherweight Mamadjonov Bahodir, light-welterweight Artikov Zokir and welterweight Krabaev Alibek, were the three other Uzbeks who won the gold.

The championship which remained under a cloud of controversies saw yet another surprise decision when Pakistan’s bantamweight Ali Mohammad was declared a 43-23 winner over Uzbekistan’s Shayimov Orzubek to become the champion.

Orzubek protested frustratingly, waved his hand in disbelief and refused to leave the ring after the decision and continuously gestured towards the jury, asking the reason of his defeat. He finally left the ring on being pacified by his coach who asked him to step down the ring.

Ali, adjudged the best boxer of the championship, was severely pounded by the Uzbek who scored points at will through accurate punches in the opening round but surprisingly points break-up showed both boxers tied at 11-11, although the Pakistani hardly managed to land a point-scoring punch on Orzubek.

Orzubek had the Pakistani on the defensive with stinging jabs in the second round but break-up mentioned Ali as 18-6 winner, while Uzbek again treated Ali as a punching bag in the third round but amazingly Pakistani was declared winner 14-6.

The most astonishing moment came when jury “intervened” and asked the referee to stop the bout in the third round before declaring Ali winner on “outscoring” the Uzbek.

Little-known Pakistani Mirwais Khan overcome J. Delavary of Iran 14-13 to win the super-heavyweight gold for hosts.

Following a cautious first round in which Mirwais was the 4-2 winner, the Pakistani pounded Delavary by breaking his guard twice to won the second round 5-3. The third round did not see much action as the Iranian changed his tactics and remained out of reach. Mirwais was a close 2-1 winner.

It was the final round which saw Delavary coming out of his groove and scoring some points through aggressive show that baffled the Pakistani who lost the round 3-7 but managed to win the title by one point.

Pakistan should have won their third gold but comical acts by Dur Mohammad in the fourth round cost him dearly and lost to Kazakhstan’s Zhailau Birzhan 34-24.

While the sturdy and taller Kazak prevailed over Dur Mohammad who lost the first round 5-9, both exchanged stinging blows in the second round which finished with a 10-10 score. Birzhan was cautioned for pushing Dur Mohammad who scored some points but lost the third round 6-8.

While Dur Mohammad needed to push harder for points in the final round, his tactics of teasing and dancing proved disastrous. Without being provoked by rival’s antics, Birzhan took advantage of Dur Mohammad’s complacency and emerged 7-3 winner of the round and an overall champion.

Nisar Khan was the second Pakistani to meet his Waterloo when Kazakhstan’s Abdraimov Nurlan became the light-flyweight winner with a 45-39 victory.

Nurlan took full advantage of Nisar’s defensive shortcomings and prevailed in the first round to 16-7 and was even more aggressive in the second which ended with 12-10 score in Kazakh’s favour. Both traded jabs in the third round which saw Nisar a 12-7 winner.

The fourth round saw the closest fight and both finished it being tied at 10-10.

Results (finals):

Light-flyweight: Abdraimov Nurlan (Kazakhstan) bt Nisar Khan (Pakistan) 45-39. Nguyen Viet Dai (Vietnam) and Sleman Waiel (Syria) (bronze).

Flyweight: Jamereason (Thailand) bt Kudaibergenov Alemzhan (Kazakhstan) 29-21. Choi Jae-Kwang (South Korea) and Saparbek Ulu Tilek (Kyrgyzstan) (bronze).

Bantamweight: Ali Mohammad (Pakistan) bt Shayimov Orzubek (Uzbekistan) RSC/OS/III (43-23). Hudaybergenov Amangeldi (Turkmenistan) and Sydykov Kanat (Kazakhstan) (bronze).

Featherweight: Mamadjonov Bahodir (Uzbekistan) bt Kim Min-Uk (South Korea) 48-46. Zhumanbayev Yerkebulan (Kazakhstan) and Sajjad Qambrani (Pakistan) (bronze).

Lightweight: Kozhibekov Bakhtzhan (Kazakhstan) bt Madaminov Akmat (Kyrgyzstan) 31-18. Metee Namuang (Thailand) and Kuljanov Azamat (Uzbekistan) (bronze).

Light-welterweight: Artikov Zokir (Uzbekistan) bt Abed Al Hallem Atat (Syria) 37-27. Shahid Hussain (Pakistan) and Park Sung-Jong (South Korea) (bronze).

Welterweight: Krabaev Alibek (Uzbekistan) bt Waiez Ishak (Syria) 33-19. Abdragimov Eldar (Kazakhstan) and Jan Mohammad (Pakistan) (bronze).

Middleweight: Zhailau Birzhan (Kazakhstan) bt Dur Mohammad (Pakistan) 34-24. Borbashev Chyngyz (Kyrgyzstan) and Mirakbarov Mirakram (Uzbekistan) (bronze).

Light-heavyweight: Abidjonov Dilshod (Uzbekistan) bt Ruzdybayev Mukhtar (Kazakhstan) 36-26. Ali Seleimary (Iran) and Nadir Khan (Pakistan) (bronze).

Heavyweight: Muralimov Ahror (Uzbekistan) bt Chemikov Vasiliy (Kazakhstan) 41-35. Abd Al Munem Kabani (Syria) and Nijiati Yushang (China) (bronze).

Super-heavyweight: Mirwais Khan (Pakistan) bt J. Delavary (Iran) 14-13. Tadjiev Umid (Uzbekistan) and Akepaer Yusufu (China) (bronze).

Points table (team, gold, silver, bronze, points):

Uzbekistan 5 1 3 20

Kazakhstan 3 3 3 18

Pakistan 2 2 4 14

Syria 0 0 2 6

Thailand 1 0 1 2

Kyrgyzstan 0 1 2 4

South Korea 0 1 2 4

Iran 0 1 1 3