India duo promise record boxing medal haul
India's two boxers at the Olympics both won through to the second
round on Tuesday to keep alive hopes of a record Games medal haul
Commonwealth Games light welterweight champion Manoj Kumar beat
Turkmenistan's Serdar Hudayberdiyev (13-7) while light flyweight
Devendro Laishram became only the second boxer at the Games to win
inside the distance.
Laishram pummelled Honduran Bayron Molina into submission 36 seconds
before the end of the first round.
Kumar will have the chance of revenge in his next bout against
British third seed Tom Stalker, who beat him in last year's world
championship quarter-finals. "I am a better fighter than I was last
year," said the 25-year-old Kumar.
"Stalker is a good fighter but I believe I can turn the tables. "All
in all I think India will win more than the one medal we won four years
ago in Beijing," he added, referring to Vijender Singh's historic
middleweight bronze.
Laishram admitted it was hard to draw too many conclusions from his
bout. "He wasn't a good boxer, I knew that, I'd sized him up so the
coming rounds are going to get more difficult," said the 20-year-old
soldier, who next faces fourth seeded Mongolian Serdamba Purevdorj.
"I can win a medal," added Laishram, a genuine contender after
reaching the world championship quarter-finals last year.
The Cubans also saw two of their fighters progress to the second
round. Yosbany Veitia and Roniel Iglesias both impressed, suggesting the
amateur boxing powerhouse could well banish memories of the 2008 Olympic
Games. Cuba took eight medals in Beijing but none of them were gold.
However, Veitia and Iglesias looked like they could set the record
straight as they overwhelmed Australian Billy Ward and Cesar Villarraga
of Colombia in the light flyweight and light welterweight categories
respectively.
But both Veitia and Iglesias will now fight the top seeds in their
respective divisions, China's outstanding defending light flyweight
champion Zou Shiming and Brazilian Everton dos Santos. However, Veitia
was upbeat after overwhelming a gutsy but outclassed Ward.
"Everything went as planned, it was too good to be true. I am ready
to compete strongly for a medal. It is my first Games and I am confident
in myself," said the 20-year-old Pan American Games silver medalist.
The United Statesa, seeking only their second boxing gold medal since
the 1996 Games, team captain Jamel Herring well beaten by impressive
Kazakh Daniyar Yeleussinov. Herring, a US Marine sergeant who served two
tours of duty in Iraq, was not too depressed about the 19-9 thrashing he
endured. "To the people here and to those back home I am still a hero
and still a champion," said the 26-year-old.Yeleussinov, the Asian Games
champion two years ago, said he was feeling extremely confident despite
not having been seeded.
"I'm in good form, in good physical shape and got a great team behind
me. There is no reason why I can't go the whole way," said the
21-year-old.
He was the second Kazakh to win through on Tuesday but his compatriot
Birzhan Zhakypov's victory was greeted with jeers and boos and left
defeated French opponent Jeremy Beccu in tears.
"I knew I had to fight against the judges also alas," said Beccu, who
stood in the middle of the ring with his hands on his hips after the
decision. AFP |