India’s Shiva Thapa (left) and Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in action during their 56kg bantamweight bout in the AIBA World Boxing Championships at Ali Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Arena yesterday. PICTURE: Mamdouh

By Satya Rath/Doha

Six day and 213 bouts later, 10 boxers stand at the cusp of glory after yesterday’s first phase of semi-final bouts, while another 10 will fight to make it to the title round after today’s remaining round-of-four bouts of the AIBA World Boxing Championships, being played at Al Sadd’s majestic Ali Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Arena here.
The day saw the dream run of two unassuming boxers come to an end. Filipino giant killer Ladon Rogen was simply no match for his fourth-seeded Russian opponent Vasilii Egorov in his 46-49kg light flyweight bout, while Indian sensation Shiva Thapa met his match in Uzbek fighter Murodjon Akhmadaliev in a draining 56kg bantamweight bout to see his Rio Games quota spot dreams evaporate.
Against Thapa, Akhmadaliev had done his homework well. He was the faster of the two too, and hit clean and hard. Thapa’s habit of letting his guard down was well exploited by the Uzbek, particularly in the opening round when a flurry of well-pointed punches upset the Indian’s rhythm.
After a pep talk by the Indian coaching staff during the first break, Thapa changed his strategy and waited for his opportunity. The tactic worked to some extent and one blinding left hook almost had the Uzbek staggering to the canvas. But the judges still didn’t look convinced. Seeing the gap in points, Thapa went all out in the final round and landed some telling blows, but it was late by then.
 “I think I fought well, I think I landed the bigger punches. He boxed well too, and did put me in some discomfort initially, but I felt I did well in the later stages of the bout. This is sport, someone had to win, and I have no regrets over my loss. My coaches told me I should have won. Yes, it’s frustrating for me as a win would have sealed an Olympic quota spot for me,” the 21-year-old Indian armyman said.
However, he is still in the running for Rio Games spot as the losing semi-finalists will be fighting a box-off on October 15, the final day of the Worlds, to decide the last of the three Olympic slots in bantamweight category.
“I gave it my all but it was not my day. I still have a good chance of making the Olympics so I am looking forward to that,” Thapa added. He will face Dzmitry Asanau in the all-important contest. The Belarussian went down to third-seeded Irish boxer Michael Conlan in his semifinal bout.
Two big upsets marked the two semi-finals in the 64kg welterweight category. While top-seeded Cuban Yasniel Toledo Lopez fell to unseeded Russian Vitaly Dunaytsev in a hard-fought bout, fast rising Uzbek Fazliddin Gaibnazarov downed second-seeded Wuttichai Masuk of Thailand. Both were split verdicts.
There were no such shocks in the two 75kg middleweight semi-finals, where the two pre-match favourites, top-seeded Cuban Arlen Lopez and powerful Uzbek Bektemir made it to the title round with unanimous 3-0 wins over Egypt’s Hosam Abdin and Ireland’s Michael O’Reilly, respectively.
It was a similar storyline in the two 91kg heavyweight bouts, the final two bouts of the evening. Erislandy Savon, the top seed from Cuba and a strong favourite for the title, was a class above his fourth-seeded Azerbaijan opponent Abdulkadir Abdullayev and won unanimously. Standing between him and the coveted gold will be Evgeny Tishchenko, the third seed from Russia, who pulverised Ukraine’s Gevorg Manukian by a similar 3-0 margin.
Today’s key bouts will see Cuba’s WSB lightweight maestro Lazaro Alvarez, a two-time defending world champion, going for a hat-trick of world titles. If he manages to overcome Uzbekistan’s less-experienced Elnur Abduraimov, he will most likely see Brazilian Robson Donato Conceicao as his final opponent.
Kazakh No. 1 Daniyar Yeleussinov will take on Azerbaijan’s Parviz Baghirov, who won the gold at the European Games in Baku in June, in his last four bout, while Cuban team captain and crowd favourite Julio La Cruz faces a strong challenge from Russian Pavel Silyagin, who has been unbeaten so far in this year’s World Series of Boxing.