Tokyo 2020 boxing results (Day 5, Afternoon): Women’s feather semis set

Girls’s featherweight (Quarterfinals)

Winners assured at the least a bronze medal.

• Karris Artingstall (Nice Britain) def. Skye Nicolson (Australia), 3:2: Utter heartbreak for Nicolson, and, man, this was so shut. Simply an especially aggressive combat in each spherical, all of them actually may have gone both means. Nicolson within the third simply wanted both the Kazakh or Thai decide to see it her means, and neither did. Artingstall could be very sound when she finds the vary and will get her jab going, she’s been sharp in three fights. Nicolson made her miss greater than in her prior bouts, and landed some good photographs, working looping left hand to the physique that was there for her the entire means. However this actually was very laborious to separate. Nicolson’s story is a really compelling and despite the fact that she comes up in need of a medal, she will be able to know for certain she was each bit adequate to win one, simply didn’t break that means.
• Sena Irie (Japan) def. Maria Nechita (Romania), 3:2: The 20-year-old Irie wins her third combat, simply as Artingstall did, and this one was shut, too, however not fairly the nail-biter, although Nechita made it a bit of 1 with a pleasant third spherical rally trailing on the playing cards. The primary spherical was tight, however Irie had the sting, after which Irie swept the second spherical. She’s been very enjoyable to look at and if we had spectators this would appear even higher. (I do know Japanese sports activities crowds have a status for being “quiet” or “well mannered” however they do have large reactions at large occasions, and anyway it wouldn’t be all Japanese followers, the Olympics being a vacation spot for individuals everywhere in the world and all. However we don’t, anyway, so no matter.)

Girls’s middleweight

• Zenfira Magomedalieva (Russian Olympic Committee) def. Naomi Graham (United States), 3:2: Magomedalieva is a veteran, a former heavyweight and lightweight heavyweight (in that order), so she’s been coming down in weight to make the Olympics as a middleweight. She used her benefits and each trick she may discover. I believe she was just a bit bit higher, interval, however much more than that she was extra intelligent — “soiled” at instances, sure, however not illegally so, in order that’s what we name “intelligent.” Graham did nicely to tighten this up, particularly within the third, as a result of she misplaced all 5 of the primary spherical playing cards.

• Rady Gramane (Mozambique) def. Erika Pachito (Ecuador), 4:1: Gramane dropped the primary spherical however rallied after, successful 4 playing cards within the second and 4 within the third. It was useless degree at 19-19 on each card after the second spherical, and Gramane’s work charge noticed her via within the pivotal closing spherical.
• Pooja Rani (India) def. Ichrak Chaib (Algeria), 5:0: This was very a lot about expertise. Chaib actually tried right here, however she’s 20 years previous and as of the final Olympics, she’d by no means boxed in any respect. So her getting right here is fairly wild and speaks to her promise. However Rani is 30, an actual veteran, gained her first main medal on the Asian Championships again in 2012, and gained gold at that competitors in 2019 (as a light-weight heavyweight) and 2021 (as a middleweight).
• Qian Li (China) def. Aoife O’Rourke (Eire), : Li only a classier boxer, actually, extra skilled, smarter, is aware of her means across the ring higher at this degree. O’Rourke had an awesome engine, although, actually introduced some combat, however simply didn’t discover Li with sufficient photographs.

Males’s featherweight

• Lazaro Alvarez (Cuba) def. Daniyal Shahbakhsh (Iran), RSC – Damage: Shahbakhsh got here in with a minimize on his brow from his spherical of 32 combat, and when it opened up once more within the second spherical they stopped it. It actually isn’t a nasty minimize, however that is the Olympics, not professional boxing. Alvarez is an excellent fighter, however hasn’t gotten over the hump within the Olympics. He gained bronze as a bantamweight in 2012 and bronze as a light-weight in 2016, now he’s making an attempt to get to gold as a featherweight, the division in between these. Shahbakhsh was outclassed right here, however he was not in awe of the Cuban in any respect, and he was giving this a go, however Alvarez was trying too good.

• Chatchai Butdee (Thailand) def. Mirco Cuello (Argentina), : Expertise vs youth once more on this one, and the expertise wins out as soon as extra. Cuello has some promise, however Butdee remains to be a rattling good newbie. His hope to medal this 12 months — he got here up in need of that in 2012 and 2016 — has to undergo Lazaro Alvarez, however I believe that could possibly be winnable, pretty much as good as Alvarez is. Butdee isn’t any pushover for anybody.
• Tsendbaatar Erdenebat (Mongolia) def. Van Duong Nguyen (Vietnam), 5:0: Erdenebat additionally fought at Rio 2016 as a bantamweight, and too good right here for Nguyen, who was spirited however simply not on the identical degree. Erdenebat was a quarterfinalist in 2016, he’ll be at the least a quarterfinalist in Tokyo.
• Albert Batyrgaziev (Russian Olympic Committee) def. Alexy de la Cruz (Dominican Republic), 5:0: One other yet one more aggressive than the 5:0 would make you assume. This was tense going to the playing cards, and actually, I believe the judging was bizarre. Like, I personally thought Batyrgaziev gained the primary two rounds. So did two of the 5 judges. However three judges gave the second to de la Cruz. After which I assumed de la Cruz ought to have gained the third, however not one of the judges agreed, so Batyrgaziev acquired all 5 playing cards. However de la Cruz had his success. He was additionally useless gassed by the tip, however it was from the trouble he’d put in. Anyway, the No. 2 seed Batyrgaziev strikes on to face Erdenebat, which isn’t any simple combat in any respect.

Males’s gentle heavyweight

• Arlen Lopez (Cuba) def. Mohammed Houmri (Algeria), 5:0: Class proving out. Cuba’s Lopez gained gold at Rio 2016 as a middleweight, now he’s going for a similar at gentle heavyweight. He’s the No. 3 seed, however we’ve already seen the highest seed and the 4 seed eradicated within the high half of the bracket, not that there aren’t high quality fighters remaining up there.
• Rogelio Romero (Mexico) def. Luka Plantic (Croatia), 4:1: After watching the scientific craft of Cuba’s Lopez, it was good to get up some to as Romero and Plantic simply went to struggle. Nice combat right here, loads of large swings, loads of good photographs touchdown. Way more professional fashion than most fights. Plantic gained all 5 playing cards within the first, Romero gained all 5 playing cards within the second, after which Romero gained 4 of 5 within the third to advance. Simply all motion right here, great things from each. Romero will want all that motion and possibly some luck in opposition to Lopez, however it’s an intriguing fashion conflict.
• Bayram Malkan (Turkey) def. Shakul Samed (Ghana), RSC: This acquired stopped within the second when Malkan dropped Samed on a proper hand, a very good shot. Samed has two older brothers who fought at Beijing 2008, and he actually went for this one, very aggressive, actually wished to convey a medal residence. However as soon as Malkan acquired the timing he was choosing him off fairly nicely.
• Loreno Alfonso Dominguez (Azerbaijan) def. Dilshod Ruzmetov (Uzbekistan), 4:1: Dominguez is one other Cuban expat who discovered his solution to Azerbaijan, and after the primary spherical being pretty shut, he simply styled on Ruzmetov for the final two, making him join with little greater than the air someplace close to Dominguez. It was an excellent exhibiting, and he must be thought of an actual medal menace because the No. 2 seed after this type of exhibiting in opposition to a strong opponent.