Hussamuddin in pre-quarters; Ashish out

TASHKENT: India’s Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) continued his good run with another dominant performance as he progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships here on Friday. In the Round-of-32 bout, Hussamuddin defeated China’s Lyu Ping 5-0. After winning the first round unanimously, the southpaw upped the ante in the next and took the initiative to land heavy blows on his opponent while dodging Lyu’s punches. The Chinese boxer could not match the speed and intensity of Hussamuddin and eventually lost. The Indian will next take on Russia’s Savvin Eduard in the pre-quarterfinal stage on Sunday. Ashish Chaudhary (80kg) went down 2-5 to Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba in a Round-of-32 bout. Ashish went on the offensive in the first round but Arlen defended well and hit some heavy counter-punches to win it. The Indian came back strongly to win the second round and took the game to his rival. In the last round, both boxers showed a lot of heart and courage, with the Cuban winning after a bout review.