Indian boxers continued their strong start at the World Boxing Championships on Day 2 at the end of the first session in Liverpool with both Neeraj Phogat (women’s 65kg) and Sumit Kundu (men’s 75kg) earning wins in their opening bouts.
Phogat was first up and limped to a 3:2 decision win against Finland’s Krista Kovaleinen – a win that came in a frantic last round flurry where it was 19-all in the scorecard of four judges, and 20-18 in favour of the Finnish boxer by the fifth judge. The Indian had range and length in her favour, and finally put it to good use in the last round, after a dressing down from the coaches at the end of the second.
On the other hand, Sumit’s first World Championship bout was near-flawless. The Army boxer, who has had some decent runs domestically and in established boxing competitions internationally, was set to face Jordan’s Mohammad Alhussein in his opener.
Right from the get-go, the contest was billed as a fight between a boxer who consistently charged forwards versus one who liked to land precise shots while moving back. And unlike what is usually the case when it comes to boxers from India, it was Sumit who was the charger in red.
Just over ten minutes later, the referee raised Sumit’s hand. As clear of a victory this was, their bout was a story of three punches.
The first punch came in the second round, with Sumit in the lead on all five scorecards. The Jordanian pugilist, knowing that he had to make up ground, tried to find an opening. But it was the Indian who managed to land a clean uppercut that rolled his opponent’s eyes upwards.
That power dictated the round. Sumit, at 75kg, has bulging muscles – something not so common in the Indian boxing camp. His power is dangerous at this weight class, which, when combined with his bravery to move forward, means that India might now have a contender in this weight class. He took the second round on all judges’ scorecards as well.
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The second shot of the bout was a right hook from hell – Sumit landed it and the shot was clean enough for sweat to fly off Alhussein’s scalp cinematically. This was when the Jordanian was searching for the only path to victory in the bout, a knockout. But instead, he was served a powerful reminder that this bout was about to end.
A similar third shot came, this time a straight right. It wasn’t as glamorous as the previous two, but it had the finality of the fight written all over it. The next minute or so, Alhussein, who is coached by Cuban trainer Dagoberto Rojas Scott, kept tying himself up with Sumit and not taking any more shots. His World Championship was over before the final bell was rung.
Mixed results
In the night session of Day 1, India had two boxers lining up with mixed results at the end of their bouts. While Sanamacha Chanu picked up a 4-1 split decision over Denmark’s Ditte Frostholm in the women’s 70 kg category, the men’s team had its first defeat of the tournament.
Harsh Chaudhary, India’s entrant in the 90kg category, lost to Poland’s Adam Tutak after the referee had to stop the contest in the third round of the fight. Chaudhary was leading 20-18 on all scorecards but then received two standing counts in the final round, hastening his exit from the Worlds.
