BEIJING, Aug 11: World and European featherweight champion Albert Selimov of Russia was eliminated in the first round of the Olympic boxing competition when Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko outpointed him 14-7 on Monday.

Selimov was regarded as the favourite to take over the title from compatriot Alexey Tishchenko, the 2004 champion who has moved to lightweight.

The draw, however, had been tough on him, with Lomachenko looking to avenge his loss to Selimov at last year’s world championship in Chicago.

Selimov led 2-0 after a highly tactical first round but Lomachenko then stepped up a few gears. The Ukrainian moved comfortably ahead in the next two rounds and could even afford the luxury of dancing around his opponent in the fourth round.

Tishchenko, trying to become the first boxer in 28 years to win gold in two different weight classes, had no such problems, starting with an easy 10-2 win over Tunisia’s Saifeddine Nejmaoui.

The 24-year-old, who was not really tested, concentrated on defending and did little to enhance his reputation in a scruffy bout.

“I tried not to spend too much energy and defended mostly,” he said. “The other guy got too close and clinched too much. It was not a very beautiful bout and I didn’t like it.”

While the Russians experienced mixed fortunes, the Cubans kept going strong with lightweight Yordenis Ugas and featherweight Idel Torriente advancing in style at the expense of Algerian Hamza Kramou and Ghana’s Prince Octopus Dzanie respectively.

Cuba look as strong as ever despite relying on their least-experienced squad in years after a string of defections.

“I’m glad to see that the Cuban boxing school is working perfectly, still efficient,” said Cuban head coach Pedro Roque.

“These young boys are going to be the worthy successors of the historic Cuban champions.”

Like the Russians, the Americans split their two bouts on Monday, featherweight Raynell Williams outpointing Italy’s Alessio di Savino 9-1 and Sadam Ali losing 20-5 to Romanian Georgian Popescu.

—Reuters