Hussamuddin (57kg) continued her strong run by recording another decisive win to advance to the quarter-finals and is just one victory away from claiming the medal.
Meanwhile, Sumit (75kg) and Narender Berwal (92+kg) fell in their respective fights to withdraw from the tournament.
Sumit faced Russian Pavel Sosulin in his first fight at the current IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships and got off to a strong start. He used his powerful punches to good effect and won the first round 3-2 before winning the second round by the same score. However, he was unable to sustain his momentum in the final round and lost to Sosulin in a split 1-3 verdict.
On the other hand, Narender Berwal (92+kg) struggled to find his bearings in the first round against Fernando Arzola of Cuba. He attempted to land heavy blows on his opponent, but Arzola proved too fast for him in all three rounds of the match as the Indian pugilist lost by unanimous decision 0-5.
Earlier in the day, Deepak started the fight slow and was slow to get into the rhythm of the match, but Bibossinov used it to his advantage and landed a few punches. The Indian boxer finished the first round strong and hit his opponent with a flurry of punches but lost 2-3.
After round two, Deepak trailed before mounting a big comeback in the final round. He picked up the pace and moved quickly throughout the fight, while hitting his opponent with a few hard punches. Deepak consistently dodged punches from the Kazakh boxer and impressed the judges to win by 5-2 after the decision went through fight review.
Deepak will face Zhang Jiamao of China in his next bout and will be looking to register another big win in the tournament.
“My goal was to play with patience from the start of the fight and to collect as many points as possible. The first two rounds were difficult but I focused on not losing patience and waiting for the right moment to attack. Coaches had told me to lure my opponent in with the right punch before using my left hook to good effect. It worked because I connect a lot of left hooks to get points. Every fight is important to me and I play every match like it’s a last match for me. . My focus is on winning my next fight now,” commented Deepak after the win.
On the other hand, Hussamuddin faced Russia Savin Edward in the pre-districts. The Indian pugilist dominated the fight from the start and never gave his opponent a chance to come back.
Hussamuddin was also faster than his Russian opponent in the second round. In the third round, he continued to counter smartly to register a 5-0 win. He will face Bulgarian Javier Diaz Ibanez in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
