Qatar Olympic Committee president HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani congratulates Joahnys Argilagos after the Cuban won gold in the 46-49kg final against Russia’s Vasilii Egorov.

By Satya Rath/Doha

It was the first finals day at the AIBA World Boxing Championships yesterday, the penultimate day of the 10-day spectacle that concludes today at Al Sadd’s Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena here.
Five gold medals were up for grabs, besides three bronze medal box-offs in the 56kg bantam weight, 64kg light welter and 75kg middle weight divisions to determine the Olympic quota spots. The remaining five title bouts will be decided today, the final day of the championships.
It was a bad day for Indians fans to start with as 56kg boxer Shiva Thapa, fighting the first bout of the evening against Belarusian Dzmitry Asanau—both losing semifinalists--saw his Olympic qualifying hopes go up in smoke. Thapa, the only Indian boxer in the medal round at the championships, looked a bit jaded and tired against his agile opponent. Despite a rusty first round, where most of his punches failed to find the desired target, he fought his heart out in the remaining two rounds to land some telling punches, particularly in the later part of the bout, but in the end it failed to convince the judges who gave a unanimous verdict to the Belarusian, who also booked a quota spot for next year’s Rio Games with the win.
“No regrets, he was the better boxer today and deserved to win. I tried my best and think I landed some good punches but the decision is not in my hands. It would have been great to have booked an Olympic quota spot today, but all’s not lost still. There is a qualifying tournament next year and I am confident I shall make it to Rio. It has been a great experience, and I am sure it has made me a better boxer,” said Thapa.
There was a walkover in the 64kg box-off, with Thailand’s Wuttichai Masuk taking the gold medal, and an Olympic quote spot, without stepping onto the ring when his Cuban opponent Yasniel Toledo Lopez pulled out of the bout due to medical reasons.
The third bronze medal bout of the evening, between the popular Michael O’Reilly of Ireland and Egyptian Hosam Abdin saw a controversial decision, when the judges’ decision went in favour of the Egyptian, though O’Reilly clearly looked the better boxer in all three rounds. There were cries of astonishment from the big contingent of Irish fans in the stands, and an expression of sheer disbelief from the Irish boxer, when the referee raised the hand of Abdin. “It is daylight robbery,” fumed one, “O’Reilly was the clear winner. I don’t know how the judges ruled on that.”
Eighteen-year-old Cuban Joahnys Argilagos won the first gold medal of the championships when he overcame Russia’s Vasilii Egorov in a draining 46-49kg light flyweight title bout. The youngest member of the Cuban team, who has been making waves in his first season in the WSB (World Series of Boxing), made it a memorable debut at the higher level by downing the Russian, a European Confederation champion, in an entertaining bout.
Irish captain Michael Conlan didn’t let O’Reilly’s unfortunate loss affect him as he took the gold despite being taken the distance by Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in their bantamweight title bout. Akhmadaliev, who beat India’s Thapa in the semi-finals, was all over Conlan in the first round, even knocking him down once. But the Irish boxer, competing in his third World Championships, used all his experience to recover and came back well in the next two rounds to corner the judges’ nod.
Russia’s emerging WSB star Vitaly Dunaytsev ended the run of Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in their light welterweight final.
The Uzbek was the more experienced of the two, but the 23-year-old Russian’s punches simple had too much power for him to take. After taking a couple of hard blows in the first round, Gaibnazarov mostly looked on the backfoot for the remaining part of the bout.
There was no stopping Cuban top seed Arlen Lopez in his 75kg middle weight title bout against Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. The fleet-footed Lopez, who saw off Egypt’s Hosam Abdin in the semi-final on Sunday, went after Melikuziev right from the first bell and only relented after the final bell. Despite a spirited fightback from the Uzbek in the later part of the bout, the judges’ decision was unanimous.
The final gold of the night went to Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko, who put paid to the hopes of Cuban top seed Erislandy in their 91kg heavyweight title bout, a repeat of their 2013 Worlds title bout, with another masterful show. Savon has been in impressive form in the championships but the Russian southpaw always had that something extra in their fight. In the process, Tishchenko also avenged his defeat at the hands of the Cuban at last World Championships in Almaty two years ago.
The final day today, starting at 7 in the evening, will feature gold medal bouts in 52kg flyweight, 60kg lightweight, 69kg welterweight, 81kg light heavyweight and +91kg super heavyweight, besides two bronze medal box-offs in 60kg and 69kg.