CHICAGO, Oct 29: England’s Tony Jeffries outclassed US light heavyweight Christopher Downs to advance to the final 16 as the first week of competition in the World Boxing Championships concluded on Sunday.

Jeffries took control in the second round and Downs couldn’t make up the difference in a 19-8 decision.

After a rest day on Monday, the championships will resume on Tuesday at the UIC Pavilion with the round of 16. The quarter-finals will be on Thursday, the semi-finals on Friday and the championship round on Saturday.

Croatia’s Marijo Sivolija, the 2005 world championships light heavyweight silver medallist, danced away in the final minute of an 18-15 win over Javid Tagiyev of Azerbaijan in the evening session after trailing in the early rounds.

Also in the light heavyweight night session, Asian Games champion Djakhon Kurbanov of Tadjikistan was disqualified for an accumulation of infractions with seven seconds remaining in the fourth round, allowing Yerkebuian Shynaliyev of Kazakhstan to advance.

Kurbanov had a 13-11 lead at the time. Brooklyn lightweight Sadam Ali was eliminated in the afternoon session, falling to 20-16 Armenia’s Hrachik Javakhyan.

Earlier in the day, China’s top-ranked light flyweight Zou Shiming continued his dominance in the ring with a 30-13 victory over Kazakhstan’s Birzham Zhakypov.

Russian Alexey Tishchenko, a gold medallist in the Athens Olympics and one of the best pound-for-pound amateur boxers in the world, defeated Kim Joung-won of South Korea 27-20.

American high School student Luis Yanez, fighting in the light flyweight class, won by walkover during the morning session.

In the afternoon, America’s Demetrius Andrade pounded Latvia’s Dmitrijs Sostaks with strong shots to the body in the third round and went on to post a 19-3 win.

Brazil’s Pedro Lima, who defeated Andrade in the gold medal match at this year’s Pan-American Games, advanced in the evening session with a 12-8 victory over Poland’s Michal Starbala.

The top eight finishers in the light flyweight (48kg) to light heavyweight (81kg) divisions, and the top four from the heavyweight and super heavyweight classes qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Chicago was elected to host the World Boxing Championships after Moscow lost the event earlier this year.—AP