Inaugural India Open International Boxing Tournament Hard puncher Agnes punches Uzbek’s lights out to reach semifinals |31 January 2018

Super heavy weight fighter Keddy Agnes is assured of collecting a pay check at the end of the inaugural India Open International Boxing Tournament for senior men and women taking place in Delhi.

The hard puncher is in the semifinals after punching the lights out of Mullojonov Lazizbek of Uzbekistan in yesterday’s quarterfinal at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi for a place in the semifinal of the lucrative tournament.

And he did it in style in a spirited show. Agnes got the win with the first knockout of the tournament in the second round of his +91kg category fight.

“He threw a jab and I made him miss. And I counter-attacked with a right hook which caught him well. This was the knockout punch,” Agnes told Sports NATION yesterday minutes after his victory.

“I feel good although it was not an easy fight. My opponent is a very experienced fighter who is good with both hands, but I stayed in the middle of the ring and studied his moves,” added Agnes.

With a semifinal bout on the card today against Indian Satish Kuma, Agnes told Sports NATION that he is looking forward to fight the 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist in front of his own fans.

“I will be all out to get a win. I want to go as far as I can in the competition and therefore I have to win as many fights as possible,” said 24-year-old Agnes.

Fighting in the +91kg category, Agnes went into action for the first time in the tournament last Sunday when he punched his way to a 5-0 victory over Zukhurov Siyovush of Tajikistan.

The five judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in Agnes’ favour.

The country’s three other fighters in the tournament ‒ Fabio Roselie (60kg), Edrian Volcère (64kg), Shain Boniface (69kg) ‒ all lost in the preliminary round.

Winner of the boxer of the year 2017 title after some great performances in international competitions last year in Reunion where he won gold and in Serbia where he picked up a bronze medal, Volcère could not start the year 2018 in the same vein.

He lost his light welter weight (64kg) fight on a 1-4 score against Mongolian Munkh-Erdene Urachimeg on Sunday evening.

At the end of the very closely fought bout, the scorecard read: 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favour of Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg who is a two-time world champ, Asian Games champ and a bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics.

Volcère could be disappointed with the loss as he is out of the race for a shot at the prize-money, but he must be proud of himself for putting up a good fight against Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg who boasts of a great show on the international circuit.

Fighting in the blue corner, Shain Boniface found Uzbek Bobo-Usmon Baturov too hard a nut to crack in their welter weight (69kg) fight.

He lost by RSC (referee stopped contest) in the second round after Indian referee Pardeep Bisht saw that he was taking too much punishment.

As for Fabio Roselie, he too lost his light weight (60kg) fight by RSC against Indian Dahiya Ankush in the second round.

The four boxers are being accompanied by coach Gerry Legras.

The field in India features boxers from traditional powerhouses such as Cuba and Kazakhstan among others and the tournament is the biggest prize money event to be held in the country with a total purse of US $100,000.

In all, 21 countries, apart from the hosts, are in action, adding up to 143 male boxers ‒ 42 of whom are Indians. The women's draw comprises 80 fighters, 32 of whom are Indians.

Among the international teams, Kenya (22), Thailand (19), Indonesia (19), Afghanistan (17), Mongolia (17), Nepal (17) and Zambia (18) have the biggest contingents apart from India.

Every gold medallist will pocket US $2,500, while the silver and bronze medallists in each event will be bagging US $1,000 and US $500 respectively.

Rodney Rose