Athlete of September – Lu Bin

Athlete of September – Lu Bin
China’s Lu Bin defended his throne in the AIBA Pro Boxing where he won the APB Championships Match against Kazakhstan’s defending AIBA World Champion and Cycle I winner Birzhan Zhakipov. The staff of the Asian Boxing Confederation has chosed him as ASBC Athlete of September in our continent following his great performance in the APB.
Lu Bin was born on October 18 in 1994 and has begun his boxing career at the age of 12 with Coach Si Dingtian in the Jinan Military region in the last months of 2006. His family was surprised that he chosed boxing because he was the first one among his relatives who tried our beloved combat sport.
Lu Bin took part in a regional boxing competition in the Jinan region of China when he was 13 in 2007 which was his first combat. His first big national level success was a bronze medal at the Chinese Youth National Championships in 2011. Lu Bin was involved to the national team in 2012 after he claimed silver medal in the Chinese National Elite Championships. He bagged a bronze medal at the Ordos Boxing Tournament in China which was his first elite international competition.
The young Chinese hope following his 18th birthday arrived to the venue of the 2012 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships as medal contender bur Lu Bin defeated all of his rivals in Yerevan and secured the gold medal in the capital city of Armenia after beating Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in the final of the Light Flyweight class (49 kg). He defeated strong Slovakian, Iranian, Cuban and Indian boxers in the road to the finals while these athletes are now members of their national elite squads.
He joined to the national elite team in 2013 and took part in the Chemistry Cup in Germany where he opened with a silver medal. Lu Bin secured a bronze medal at the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Continental Championships which was the lone Chinese medal in Amman, Jordan and also competed in the last edition of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
He was member of the Chinese national team in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games as well but he was defeated by Uzbekistan’s Summer Universiade winner miniman Hasanboy Dusmatov in the first preliminary round. The Uzbek boxer won the gold medal in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships some weeks ago. Following that unsuccessful event the Chinese Light Flyweight class (49 kg) boxer defeated all of his three opponents in the opening rounds of the AIBA Professional Boxing: Kazakhstan’s defending AIBA World Champion Birzhan Zhakypov, China’s National Champion Wu Zhonglin and Philippines’ London 2012 Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga.
Lu Bin had clear performance in the AIBA Professional Boxing and his final opponent for the APB title was another Chinese boxer 23-year-old Wu Zhonglin who also achieved great results in the recent years. Guiyang-based Wu was gold medallist in the 2013 China Open Tournament and won the national title in 2012 when he was able to beat the teenager Lu Bin in the final of the event.
Southpaw Lu Bin tried to control the APB title bout from the first seconds and shared his power well enough in the eight rounds. Lu Bin was too quick for Wu this time and the judges saw him as the better boxer. The final verdict of the bout was 79:73 in two judges and 78:74 which meant Lu Bin won the title in the Lingnan Pearl, Foshan. Lu Bin received the APB Belt from AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu following he was able to win all of his four contests in the AIBA Professional Boxing.
China’s Lu Bin not only win the title but he qualified to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as first Asian boxer. He had some relaxations after that success and prepared well enough to the big battle against Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakipov for the APBA World Championships Match. The Chinese boxer controlled the fight and in spite of his difficulties in the middle part of the bout he could solve the tactical issues against his taller rival. Lu Bin won the key match by unanimous decision and defended his APB throne. Lu Bin is more than a medal contender in the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games.