The semifinals action at the IBA Men’s Boxing World Championship in Tashkent will get underway on Friday, day eleven of the competition, and three Indians will be taking the ring.
Deepak will commence the action for India in the 48-51kg category before Mohammad Hussamuddin enters the ring in the 54-57kg weight class. Nishant Dev is the third Indian boxer who will be in the fray today in 67-71kg.
The trio are already assured of a medal each.
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Deepak
Deepak displayed a strong performance to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Nurzhigit Diushebaev 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
The Indian boxer stunned the Olympic bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov in the second round and Jiamao Zhang 5-0 in the pre-quarterfinal.
On Wednesday, after taking the watchful first round 5-0, Bhoria tackled an attacking Diushebaev tactically. The Indian, who countered beautifully with combinations of three-four punches, connected a solid left to put Diushebaev through counting in the second round. Bhoria inflicted another eight-count on his rival in the third before advancing.
Deepak will face France’s Billal Bennama in the semifinal.
Mohammad Hussamuddin
The experienced Hussamuddin upset fifth-seeded Bulgarian Javier Ibanez Diaz 4-3, via bout review, in a closely-contested fight in the quarterfinals.
Against a taller opponent landing blows from a long range, the Indian southpaw connected a few headshots to claim the first round 3-2.
Hussamuddim relied on his ring craft to stay marginally ahead in the second period and matched the Bulgarian in the physical third round, which witnessed both going all out, to emerge triumphant.
The Haryana boxer defeated Russia’s Eduard Savvin in the pre-quarters.
Hussamuddin’s opponent in the semifinal is Horta Rodriguez Del-Rey of Cuba.
Nishant Dev
Young left-handed boxer Nishant outshone Cuban Terry Jorge Cuellar 5-0.
Nishant raised his game exemplarily to execute his rapid and powerful punches and put Cuellar under pressure in the opening round.
Even as the Cuban showed more aggression, Nishant’s mobility and clean shots helped him. He was up to the task in the exhaustive third period, which witnessed heavy trading of punches.
The boxer from Karnataka, who won the National Championships in 2021 and represented India in the World Championships in the same year, is currently vying for his first honur at the global stage.
Kazakhstani boxer Aslanbek Shymbergenov will be Nishant’s opponent in the last four.
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