Asian Games bantamweight silver medalist Zhang Jiawei of China set up a mouthwatering second round clash with Filipino pugilist Joan Tipon here at the amateur boxing world championships on Wednesday. Zhang, 22, justified being rated one of the favourites for the title here by outclassing Iran’s Armin Amjadian winning all three rounds of the bout (9-3, 5-4, 4-2) while Tipon was made to work harder in a 13-12 win over Argentina’s Alberto Melian.
Japanese boxer Satoshi Shimizu experienced few problems during his opening-round clash with Mohammad Latifi of Afghanistan thrashing his rival 18-1. In the second round he will face seventh seed Jahyn Parrinello of Italy, who enjoyed an opening round bye. Another bantamweight category favourite, Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba, a former junior world championship silver medalist, battled into the second round with a 18-13 win over Robenilson Vieira of Brazilia.
In the light heavyweight category the Cuba team skipper Julio La Cruz set out on his road of Olympic redemption with a stunning 25-11 victory over Mikhail Dauhaliavets of Belarus.
The 22-year-old Cuban is aiming to make up for his having missed out on the 2008 Olympics when he failed to qualify. This year’s Asian championships silver medalist Meng Fanlong of China, who also took Asian Games bronze last year, outclassed Mexico’s Dario Alfaro and will meet Daugirda Semiotas of Lithusnia in the second round. Another Asian fighter Erdenebayar Sandagsuren of Mongolia was also in complete command against New Zealand’s Reece Papuni earning a second round spot after a 18-10 victory.
