Tokyo Olympics: Indian boxer Satish Kumar sails into quarterfinals

In the battle between debutants, Satish Kumar prevailed 4-1 over Ricardo Brown in a last-16 encounter, a comfortable win for him despite the split verdict.

Satish Kumar (red) of India exchanges punches with Jamaica's Ricardo Brown during a men's Super Heavy (+91kg) Boxing bout at the Tokyo Olympics.

Satish Kumar, the first Indian super heavyweight boxer to qualify for the Olympics, gave a good account of himself to beat Pan American bronze medallist Ricardo Brown 4-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

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The 32-year-old Indian displayed his all-round boxing skills to thwart the challenge of the giant Jamaican in the opening round and set up a date with top seed and World champion Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan.

Satish boxed from a distance, mixing his left jabs and right hooks. He moved back and forth and swayed his nicely to stay safe from the blows of his taller opponent.

After Satish took the first round 5-0, the Canada-based Brown stepped up his attack. Satish, despite getting medical attention for a cut above his left eye, boxed with determination to land a few punches on target and win the second round with a 4-1 verdict.

Knowing that the desperate Jamaican would use every trick in the book, Satish stayed away from Brown’s grasp as far as he could and delivered some fine counters. A frustrated Brown tried in vain to close the gap and even resorted to powerful head butts but could not stop the Indian to make it to the last four.