Featherweight world champ Pavel to take on Sameera

Chris DHAMBARAGE

The presence of three time World amateur feather weight champion Pavel Drobyshev will be the main attraction when the Moscow Bears men’s team figure in a historic boxing dual against Sri Lanka Lions at the Sugathadasa indoor Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.

Drobyshev, is a part of the four-member Moscow Bears men’s team and a three-fight women’s duel, too, is on the card, with the team counting the most number of victories from both contests emerging as the winner of this inaugural event for the Shermans Logistics Challenge Trophy.

Twenty one year old Drobyshev who is the feather weight champion in the World Championships of 2004, 2005 and 2007, will meet Kamal Sameera (24) who is the undefeated national champion since 2003.

Drobyshev’s international record might be more superior to Sameera’s performances but local boxing officials say the Slimline BC boxer is not the sort who would be cowered by the reputation of his opponent.

The President of the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka Dian Gomes said that Sameera is a proud boxer and also has the courage to back his pries. “I don’t think he’s going to be overawed being in the same ring with the world champion. Of course, he will respect the fact his opponent is the world’s best feather weight, but he won’t approach the fight presuming he is going to lose. His attitude will be: you may be world champion but don’t expect any concessions because of your reputation - you’ll have to earn your win.

The former Seevali MV Ratnapura MV student had two unsuccessful attempts at the World Championships in 2005 and 2007 and is determined to put up an improved performance.

“I don’t think anyone expects to see Sameera vanquish the world champion, but if he can restrict the Russian’s win to a five-point margin he would have done his international future a world of good,” said Dian Gomes.

In addition Sameera will have the home crowd behind him and as this is a one-off contest and having to focus on just one fight should help him to mentally condition himself better to take on the world champion.

Kamal Sameera won the silver medal at the South Asian Federation boxing championships in 2004 and took the bronze medal at the 2005 Commonwealth Championships and at the 2004 President’s Cup held in Indonesia. He is fresh after a successful campaign at the Clifford Cup meet recently and has remained undefeated in local competitions since 2003.

He overcame all of his Clifford Cup opponents quite convincingly and is in serious training and intent on improving his international record.

Sameera showed that he is quite an extra ordinary boxer and has packed a lot more power into his fists, and has added the left hook and right cross to his armoury.

The way he mixed his punches and the speed and accuracy of their delivery has proved too much for his opponents and his bout with the world champion will provide a good test.

Meanwhile Manjula Wanniarachchi the national bantam weight champion will take on 20-year-old Alexander Ivanenko who has no international experience and is neither a national champion. Twenty nine year old Wanniarachchi, in contrast counts 13 years of international experience, and though he has failed to win Olympic qualification on three occasions the Slimline boxer has won the silver medal in the 2005 King’s Cup as well as in internationals held in India and Pakistan.

Promising boxer Dumith Wijerathna, is the solitary local debutante and he will takes on Alex Trifonoiv, 21 in the fly weight category bout. Wijerathna, a product of Vidyartha College Kandy earned selection after some outstanding performances in the recent Clifford Cup meet, emerging champion.

The Sri Lanka Lions fourth men’s boxer will be twenty six year old T.M.C. Tennekoon who will be up against Vadim Idgshev in the light fly weight category. Tennekoon won the won the bronze medal in the 2006 South Asian Federation Games and King’s Cup meet.

In the women’s duel meet Anusha Kodituwakku will take on Russian pin weight champion Svetlana Gnevanova, and in the light fly weight Chandrika Guruge of the Sri Lanka Army meets Alexsandra Kuleshova the European championships bronze medallist last year. In addition in the fly weight twenty eight year old J.A.N.K. Jayasingha, will take on European Championship bronze medallist Elena Savelyeva. In fact Anusha Kodituwakku made a fine impact by winning a bronze medal at the recent IBA Asian Championships in New Delhi, India. She defeated her Korean opponent on points 13-3 in the quarterfinals but lost the semifinal bout 3-10.

Kodituwakku had also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Championships in Vietnam and produced a similar effort at the Chinese Taipei open meet and is presently the reigning national champion in the under 48 kgs weight class event.