Akash, Nishant advance to pre-quarterfinals at IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships

Tashkent: Indian pugilists Akash Sangwan (67kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) secured comfortable wins to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships here on Saturday.

Up against Fu Mingke of China in the round of 32 match, Akash was the quicker one of the two boxers right from the start and landed some heavy blows on his opponent.

Akash played from distance and evaded Fu’s punches throughout the bout.

The last round saw a desperate attempt from the Chinese boxer to mount a comeback but Akash comfortably dealt with him and won 5-0 via unanimous decision.

He will take on Kazakhstan’s Dulat Bekbauov in the last-16 stage on Tuesday.

In the light middleweight round of 32 bout, Nishant squared off against South Korea’s Lee Sangmin.

The Indian boxer, who had defeated world bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the previous round, showed his technical prowess. He was patient in the first round and gauged the strategy of his opponent while landing enough punches to win the round.

The last two rounds saw both the pugilists exchange some heavy blows but Nishant was the more accurate of the two and secured a unanimous 5-0 win for India. The southpaw will be up against Palestine’s Foqahaa Nidal in the pre-quarterfinal on Tuesday.

On Sunday, four Indians — Deepak (51kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Sumit (75kg) and Narender (92+kg) — will be in action.

Deepak will face Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and 2021 world champion Saken Bibossinov in the round of 32 match-up while Hussamuddin will fight it out against Russia’s Savvin Eduard in the pre-quarterfinal.

Sumit will start his campaign in the round of 32 bout against Russia’s Pavel Sosulin while Narender will square off against Arzola Lopez of Cuba in the last-16 stage.

The ongoing tournament is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.