KARACHI, May 7: Sohail Baloch bludgeoned his way into the third Olympic qualifying boxing tournament quarterfinals, thrashing Mongolia's B. Sodgerel 39-20 , but a debatable decision involving an Indian overshadowed Pakistani's victory on Friday.
Sohail was aggressive and treated his rival as a punching bag in the third and fourth round after a shaky start in the fight which was undoubtedly the bloodiest and thrilling of all at KPT Sports Complex.
Although the start did not seem to be encouraging for Sohail, the encounter became a one-sided affair when Mongolian had a bloody nose in the third round after severe thrashing.
Featherweight Sohail received eight mandatory counts after he was floored temporarily in the opening round and was bit wobbly in the second again after a powerful left to get another count.
It was the first two rounds that gave Sodgerel most of the points as he must have received the severe thrashing of his career in the last two rounds. The Mongol, who looked much composed till the second round, was hapless against left, right combination from Sohail who unleashed a flurry of punches in the third which resulted in Sodgerel's bloody nose.
The referee stopped the fight for the second time to wipe off blood from Sodgerel's nose and asked ringside medical officer's advice before allowing the two boxers to resume.
Sohail striving for a knockout targeted Sodgerel's injured nose, again forcing the referee to clean Mongol's nose for the third time in the same round. The final round was virtually a repeat of the third as Sohail continued punishing Sodgerel with powerful blows on opponent's nose and finally walked away a deserved winner.
Indian star pugilist Mohammad Ali Qamar became a victim of a debatable decision after jury declared Japan's Toshiyuki Iqarashi the winner of a light-flyweight bout. Both boxers were deadlocked at 28-28 after the bout, but Iqarashi became the 109-101 winner after jury considered all the punches from the two boxers to break the stalemate.
The kind of boxing prowess Qamar showed against the Japanese indicated that he should have won the fight as he opened the bout with scoring points in the first round. Iqarashi found it hard to break impeccable defence by the Indian who clearly dominated the second round using his international experience to subdue his rival.
Qamar, a 2002 Commonwealth Games champion, although looked bit weary in the third, was not ready to allow his opponent to dominate. However, the Japanese finally succeeded in breaking Qamar's guard to score a few points.
But Iqarashi was not as impressive as Qamar was in the final round. Qamar, though looked tired, hammered the Japanese in the final round and scored at will. It was a happy day for war-torn Iraq as two of their boxers brought joy for the countrymen by winning their respective bouts in contrasting fashion.
While Iraq's Najah S.Ali overpowered Kyrgyzstan's Eiesidin Saliev 18-15 after a close light-flyweight fight, his compatriot middleweight Jamal Ali Layej defeated Benny Elopere of Indonesia 25-13.
Iraq, who did not have their chief coach Maurice L. Watkins by the ringside because of stomach problem, however, lost a bout when Read F.Ajlan was beaten by Indonesia's U. Arenaldo Moniaga 16-20 in the featherweight category.
Results (pre-quarterfinals):
Light fly weight: Hong Moo-Won (South Korea) bt Saeed Ghorbanzad (Iran) 32-9; Rionando Butar (Indonesia) bt Garayev Rovshen (Turkmenistan) 21-18; Najah S.Ali (Iraq) bt Eiesidin Saliev (Kyrgyzstan) 18-15; Toshiyuki Iqarashi (Japan) bt Mohammad Ali Qamar (India) 109-101; Namajonov Otabek (Uzbekistan) bt Amjad Aodeh (Syria) 25-12; Zorigt Bator (Mongolia) bt S.Bahadur Rana (Nepal) RCC/III; Abdraimov Nurlan (Kazakhstan) bt Zamzai Azazi Mhd (Malaysia) 34-16; Harry Tanamor (Philippines) bt Harsha Kumara (Sri Lanka) RSC/III.
Feather weight: U. Arenaldo Moniaga (Indonesia) bt Read F. Ajlan (Iraq) 20-16; Asylbex Talasbaev (Kyrgyzstan) bt Lu Hao (China) 29-10; Meretniyazov I (Turkmenistan) bt Abdulla Theef Mohd (Qatar) 27-22; K.Muhammad (Jordan) bt Dhan Bahadur Hitang (Nepal) RSC/OS/III; Yaser Shighan (Syria) bt Abdul Hamid Rahimi (Afghanistan) 26-9; Sohail Baloch (Pakistan) bt B. Sodgerel (Mongolia) 39-20; Terukado Shoyama (Japan) bt Junard Ladon (Philippines) 33-20; Akbar Ahadi Hir (Iran) bt Ghung Chun An (Chinese Taipei) 30-11.
Middle weight: Al Sulaman (Kuwait) bt Abd Ali Bassel (Syria) KO/I; Jamal Ali Layej (Iraq) bt Benny Elopere (Indonesia) 25-13.