India's boxing medal hopes hinges on five now

The first round of the boxing events at the 2012 Olympics concluded yesterday and the Indian team, which began with seven members in the men’s draw, still have five men standing. So far it has been a creditable performance by the Indian contingent and despite two defeats they have made their presence felt at the Excel South Arena.

The two men who missed out on a round of 16 berth are Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan. Thapa, who was a strong medal contender, bowed out with a 9-14 loss against Mexico’s Oscar Valdez Fierro in the bantamweight (56 kg) category. Though he had a reasonably good start in the fight, lack of experience did him in and the youngest Indian boxer was shown the door.

Sangwan, on the other hand, produced a valiant effort but lost the contest by a controversial 4-5 verdict against Brazil’s Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino in the light heavyweight ( 81 kg) category.

Bronze medal winner at the Beijing Olympics and a strong medal contender here, Vijender Singh was the first to book a slot in the round of 16 as he defeated Danabek Suzhanov of Kazakhstan with a 14-10 verdict in the men’s middleweight (75 kg) category. The experienced pugilist looked in total control throughout the bout and took points at important junctures to maintain his lead. He will now be up against Terrell Gausha of USA on Thursday.

Jai Bhagwan became the second Indian to move into the pre-quaterfinals after registering a resounding 18-8 victory over Andrique Alisop of Seychelles in the men’s lightweight (60 kg) category. The tall 26 year old boxer, who is making his third Olympic appearance, was clearly the aggressor and after taking a handsome lead, didn’t give his opponent an inch to make a comeback into the contest. Bhagwan will now face Gani Zhailauov of Kazakhstan in the pre-quaterfinals on Thursday.

While Vijender and Bhagwan were impressive, the 20 year old Laishram Devendro Singh was sensational as he, quite literally, ‘stormed’ into the pre-quaterfinals. The diminutive boxer from Manipur unleashed a relentless attack on  Molina Figueroa Bayron of Hondurus and after two knock downs, the referee had to stop the men’s light fly weight category (49 kg) in the first round itself. At the time of stoppage, the Indian was leading by a whopping 24-2 margin. He will look to carry forward his form when he faces the Beijing Olympics silver medalist Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia in the second round on Saturday.

Manoj Kumar then joined his compatriots in the round of 16 when he notched up a calculative 13-7 victory over Serdar Hudayberdiyev of Turkmenistan in the light welter (64 kg) category. The Commonwealth Games gold medalist displayed the right mixture of aggressive and defensive style of play and made good use of his experience to secure his place in the round of 16. Manoj will now square up against the number three seed Thomas Stalker of Great Britain on Saturday.

Vikas Krishnan Yadav, is the fifth Indian in the pre-quaterfinals and will start his Olympic campaign against the American Errol Spence on Friday in the 69 kg category. The World Championship bronze medal winner was the only Indian to get a bye in the first round.

After a string of disappointing performances in other disciplines, the Indian contingent will be vehemently supporting the remaining five pugilists, encouraging them to punch above their weight.