BANGKOK, July 9: Olympic light welterweight champion Kharimzhanov Nurzhan became the third big-name fighter to exit the world amateur championships after a surprise defeat to Thailand’s Manus Boonjamnong on Wednesday.

Manus thrilled his home crowd with a 21-11 points victory over the Kazakh fighter, who lifted the Olympic title in Sydney three years ago.

Nurzhan was the third top-ranked boxer in less than 24 hours to go out at the quarter-final stage after two defending champions from Cuba suffered defeats.

Cuba’s world light flyweight champion Yan Barthelemy Varela fell to Zou Shiming of China in an earlier fight on Wednesday, while compatriot Guillermo Rigondeaux, the reigning world and Olympic bantamweight champion lost on Tuesday to Azerbaijan’s Agasi Mamedov.

The 24-year-old from Baku beat Rigondeaux 16-13 to book a place in Friday’s semifinals.

“I fought him before in Sydney and he won there so it was my turn this time,” Mamedov told Reuters. “I’ve been ready for this competition for a long time and now I’ll to be going for the title.”

Thailand’s Manus goes through to Friday’s semifinals as a firm favourite for the gold medal in the 64 kg category. If successful, the Thai government will award him a $50,000 bonus, one of the largest sums of money ever awarded to a Thai athlete.—Reuters