Twenty-eight preliminary bouts took place in Busto Arsizio, Italy, during this evening’s session, as the Boxing Road to Paris 1st World Qualification Tournament – held here from March 3 to 11 – moves forward.
Over 600 athletes from 113 NOCs, the Boxing Refugee Team (BRT), and Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) are competing on the two rings set up at the E-Work Arena, aiming for the 49 Paris 2024 Olympic Quota Places at stake across the 13 weight categories.
Today’s evening session saw the Men’s 63.5 kg, 71 kg, and 92 kg Round of 32 being completed, with the best athletes moving forward in the tournament. The top 4 boxers in each of these three categories will be awarded an Olympic pass for Paris.
In line with the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit’s primary mandate and to focus on the athletes and their road to Paris, boxers will only compete until the quota places are distributed, and no medal matches and medal ceremonies will be staged during the tournament. The tournament will, therefore, run up to the quarterfinals in all weight categories (4 quota places available in each event), except for the women’s 57kg category (2 quota places available), which will run up to the semifinal stage, and the women’s 60kg category (3 quota places available), where a box-off will assign the third available quota.
The evening kicked off with a great Men’s 63.5kg match where 29-year-old Obada ALKASBEH (JOR), a Rio 2016 Olympian, rocked the E-Work Arena as he beat Brazil’s Yuri FALCAO via a unanimous decision. The Jordan boxer, after a slow start in round 1, put up a show of power and speed across rounds 2 and 3, supported by a loud crowd of teammates and supporters, shattering his opponent’s hopes punch after punch. Up next, he will meet Joshua TUKAMUHEBWA (UGA) in the Round of 16, after the African boxer clinched a 4:1 victory against Robert Eusebiou JITARU (ROU), tonight.
In the same weight category, Ali HABIBINEZHAD (IRI) beat Patris MUGHALZAI (GBR) to advance to the Round of 16, and is now bound to a match against Shion NISHIYAMA (JPN), who beat Tayfur ALIYEV (AZE) tonight. Shpetim BAJOKU (KOS), Ruslan ABDULLAEV (UZB), Bakhodour USMONOV (TJK), Radoslav Simeonov ROSENOV (BUL), Erislandy ALVAREZ (CUB), and Aleksej Vitorovic SENDRIK (SRB) all advanced in the tournament.
In the Men’s 71kg event, Gurgen MADOYAN (ARM) had to fight hard to pass through the Round of 32. Meeting Spain’s Sergio MARTINEZ on the E-Work Arena’s ring, he led Round 1, winning the votes of 4 out of 5 judges, and then controlled the margin across rounds 2 and 3, collecting a final score of 4:1 to advance in the tournament and book a spot in the Round of 16 phase to be held on March 10. Then, he will have to face Sarkhan ALIYEV (AZE), who beat Aleksandr TROFIMCUK (LTU) with a score of 3:2 today.
Christos KARAITIS (GRE), Bayramdurdy NURMUHAMMEDOV (TKM), Nishan DEV (IND), Aslanbek SHYMBERGENOV (KAZ), Omari JONES (USA), and Maghsoudi Mal Amiri MOSLEM (IRI) joined them in the Round of 16, winning their respective bouts.
The Men’s 92kg bouts of the evening session saw the victories of Sadam MAGOMEDOV (SRB), Julio Cesar CASTILLO TORRES (ECU), JAKKAPONG Yomkhot (THA), Soheb BOUAFIA (FRA), Narek MANASYAN (ARM), Mateusz BEREZNICKI (POL), Jamar TALLEY (USA), Patrick BROWN (GBR), Oralbay AIBEK (KAZ), and Luis SANCHEZ (VEN) in their respective bouts.
Find all results and draw sheets, and keep following the Boxing Road to Paris 1st World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, on boxing.athlete365.org and, from March 8, watch the action live on the Olympic Channel.
