Deepak comes back to enter pre-quarterfinals

TASHKENT: Fast-rising India boxer Deepak Bhoria fashioned a brilliant comeback to stun Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan and advance to the 51kg pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Men’s World Championships here on Sunday.

Trailing by a split verdict after the opening two rounds, Deepak, who was selected ahead of World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal, put up a stellar display in the last three minutes to emerge winner following a bout review. The Indian eventually won 5-2. Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) registered a facile 5-0 victory over Russia’s Eduard Savvin to advance to the quarter-finals.

Deepak began slowly and took some time to get into rhythm while Bibossinov used it to his advantage and landed some punches on his opponent. The Indian ended the first round strongly and delivered a flurry of punches, but lost 2-3.

After losing the second round, Deepak picked up the pace and moved around swiftly in the third while hitting his opponent with hard blows. He evaded the Kazakh’s punches consistently and impressed the judges.