Cuba took seven of the 12 titles at the last championships in Belfast two years ago, but could only manage three this time, the same as a Russian team billed as the strongest since the collapse of the Soviet Union whose silver medal tally bettered that of their communist rivals.
“We have an excellent team here and these championships were very successful,” Russian coach Djafarov Zoubek told Reuters.
“Traditionally, Cuba was always very strong and it’s still strong now, but we’ve outshone them today,” he said.
Angry scenes followed the night’s final bout between Cuban Pedro Carrigon Sago and Russia’s Alexandre Povetkin, after the two points Carrigon Sago was docked for holding led to Povetkin winning 29-27.
Kazakov Serguei and Evgueni Makarenko lifted the remaining two titles for Russia, with light flyweight Serguei beating China’s Zou Shiming 23-19 and Makarenko retaining his world light heavyweight crown after a tense battle with Aripgadzhiev Magomed of Belarus.
“It was a dangerous fight but it wasn’t the best fight,” Makarenko told Reuters.
“He was very strong. Every bout can kill you at this level but I’ve beat him before and it was important for me to beat him again today.”
Cuba’s three gold medals came from Lorenzo Aragon Armenteros and two reigning champions, heavyweight Olanier Solis Fonte and lightweight Mario Kinderlean.
Kinderlean saw off Thailand’s Pichai Sayotha 45-27, while Solis Fonte narrowly beat Russian Alexandre Alexeev 18-15.
Armenteros claimed his first world title after finishing off Uzbek Husanov Sherzod 17-9 in the welterweight division.
There were scenes of jubilation at the Nimibutr Gymnasium as host Thailand won its first ever world boxing crown, when Somjit Jongjohor beat defending champion Thomas Jrome of France 24-17 in the flyweight final.
Kazakhstan secured two titles through middleweight Golovkin Gennadily and featherweight Jafarov Galib, while neighbours Azerbaijan took their only gold medal of the championships when Agasi Mamedov defeated Russian Gennadi Kovalev in the bantamweight final.
Blain Willy ensured France a world title to match their tally in Belfast, and also took the competition’s best boxer award after his 32-13 defeat of Russian Alexandre Maletin in the light welterweight division. —Reuters