Quarter-finals among men were held on the third day of the 35th edition of the Boxam Tournament in Castellon de la Plana, Spain. All ofr the winners are guaranteed medallists of the event, the Lithuanians boxed over their previous level.
Altogether 127 boxers from 17 nations are attending the Boxam Tournament, which is held with strict Covid-19 policies.
Escobar and Sabyrkhan won the key bouts at the men’s flyweight (52kg)
The bouts at the men’s flyweight (52kg) were good promotions of boxing in the quarter-finals of the Boxam Tournament. Spain’s European Games winner Gabriel Escobar moved ahead more in the first round against India’s AIBA World Boxing Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal which was not the best tactic from the host nation’s pride. The boxer from Spain was patient in the second round and waited for the good angles to land his quick counter-attacking punches. His hooks worked well enough. Escobar was smarter this time than his Asian Games winner opponent and advanced to the semi-finals. In another impressive contest of the weight category, Kazakhstan’s talent Makhmud Sabyrkhan had to do his best to beat Spain’s WSB boxer Martin Molina.
India’s experienced Vikas Krishan eliminated the Italian veteran on Day 3
India’s Vikas Krishan Yadav won his first big title at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in 2010. He followed that with a gold medal at the Asian Games in the same year when he was only 18. Since then the Indian won high number of medals and returned to the national team in 2019 to get a quota for Tokyo. Vikas has done a successful mission following he moved back to the welterweight (69kg) and he uses the Boxam Tournament as preparation for the Olympics. The Indian met with another veteran boxer, Italy’s Vincenzo Mangiacapre who claimed bronze medals at the Olympic Games and AIBA World Boxing Championships. Krishan was not in top form yet but he felt the rhythm well to beat the Italian veteran in a tactical game.
Lithuania have five guaranteed medals in Castellon de la Plana
The Lithuanian Boxing Federation sent their best boxers to the Boxam Tournament and following their women, Gabriele Stonkute, four men athletes also advanced to the semi-finals in Castellon de la Plana. Edgaras Skurdelis is their veteran in the national team who joined to his first junior international events in 2009. He met with Spain’s Enrique Jose Florentino Mejia in the quarter-finals of the lightweight (63kg) and had enough experiences to eliminate his local rival.
Saimonas Banys had to miss a few important competitions in the recent period but he returned in good shape to the national team. He caused a small surprise in Castellon following elimination Monaco’s technician boxer Hugo Micallef at the welterweight (69kg). EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships silver medallist Vytautas Balsys worked well against France’s Cheikhmar Kone and secured his place in the last four of the middleweight (75kg). Another experienced Lithuanian Tadas Tamasauskas had a few dangerous moments at the heavyweight (91kg) against Morocco’s Younes Baala but survived those exchanges and won that contest by split decision.
Day4 schedule
The fourth competition day of the Boxam Tournament with 28 semi-final bouts will be live-streamed here: Ring A and Ring B.
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