Bhutan’s Migma Dorji was the hero of the afternoon session in Astana

Bhutan’s Migma Dorji defeated a well-experienced rival at the ASBC Asian U22 & Youth Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan during the afternoon session.

Thailand’s Natthapong Thuamcharoen is their best elite boxer at the minimumweight (48kg) but he is still in the U22 age group who moved forward without any stoppage against his regional rival, Jay Bryan Baricuatro of the Philippines. The 19-year-old Filipino used his distance better in the first round and his counter-punches controlled their contest until the last gong which was a small surprise in Astana.

The first local boxer in action was Yernar Karap, a new comer in the U22 national team who had a hard tactical job against Jordan’s Maher Almashaleh at the minimumweight (48kg). His opponent has a longer reach which he used well in the first round but from the second, Karap was the dominant boxer and his finish impressed the local crowd.

Bhutan’s Migma Dorji spent the recent months in training camps and he surprised his Tajik opponent, Mekhrojiddin Barotov in the first round and three of the judges favoured him after three minutes of fight. Dorji had longer hands but he moved ahead bravely in the first and second rounds and he had the strong advantage before the final period. Dorji worked hard in all of the three rounds, kept the focus until the last gong, to win a bout for Bhutan.

Aaron Jude Bado from the Philippines is the titleholder in the men’s flyweight (51kg) who competed also in the recent Asian Games. The tall Filipino was patient in the first round against South Korea’s Jang Woo Seop, he showed excellent defensive skills but he did not land enough punches. Bado was not in shape today, he did not find the best weapon against the South Korean but he could win the bout by bout review.

Kyrgyzstan’s Asian Youth silver medallist Bekzat Ergeshov is only 19-year-old but he had the experience how to handle Singapore’s Danny Chaw’s style in the first round. The Kyrgyz flyweight (51kg) boxer landed his single shots throughout this contest effectively and he won this preliminary by RSC.  

Following Mongolia’s Enkhsaikhan Oyun-Erdene’s impressive RSC success over Tajikistan’s World Championships quarter-finalist Meroj Zoidov, Kazakhstan’s defending champion, Nursultan Altynbek stepped into the ring. The 21-year-old promising star met Timor Leste’s Deonizio Dovi Monteiro Ramos and he won their bantamweight (54kg) meeting saving fuel to the next rounds as well.

Kazakhstan’s Yerbolat Sabyr, the Youth World silver medallist, had to turn up the heat in the beginning of the second round against Kyrgyzstan’s Shopokov Memorial winner Islam Torobayev at the featherweight (57kg) preliminary. The Kyrgyz was highly competitive for the 22-year-old tall Kazakh but Sabyr could win their contest with a great finish.

United Arab Emirates’ best U22 boxer, Nawaf Al-Zahmi won his preparation tournaments this year and he competed already in two qualification events as well. The boxer from the UAE was taller than Vietnam’s Nguyen Duy Anh but his Southeast Asian opponent used aggressive tactics to win this contest.

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