72 bouts thrilled the watching audience in St. Petersburg, Russia, as the fifth competition day of the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships consisted of matches in the Pinweight (46 kg), Light Flyweight (48 kg), Bantamweight (54 kg), Lightweight (60 kg), Light Welterweight (63 kg), Welterweight (66 kg), Middleweight (75 kg) and Heavyweight (+80 kg) weight classes.

Bout of the day

Cuba’s Alexei Rodriguez recently moved up to Bantamweight, and the switch looks to have been a major success after his narrow victory over Kazakhstan’s current ASBC Asian Junior Champion Sanatali Toltayev.

The two-time Cuban Junior National Games displayed a wide range of punches through the bout, while Toltayev also impressed with his technical ability.

An entertaining opening round was controlled by Rodriguez, before Toltayev produced his own dominance in the second frame.

The final result hinged on the third and last round, which was won by Rodriguez in sparkling fashion.

Team of the day

The United States of America enjoyed a colossal day of success on Day 5, beginning with a victory for US Pinweight Junior National Champion Jesse Rodriguez over Russia’s EUBC European Schoolboys Champion Nikita Golovkin.

Angel Martinez was awarded the best boxer trophy in the US Junior National Golden Gloves Championships, and continued his good form with a solid Light Flyweight triumph against  Philippines’ Cris Sander Laurente.

Marc Castro began boxing at the age of 4, and the 16-year-old Californian Bantamweight clinically outperformed Russia’s Pavel Ryasniy to advance to the quarter-final stage of the event.

Harley Mederos delivered the fourth US triumph by eliminating England’s Mark Dickinson at Lightweight, while Leon Lawson excelled against Tajikistan’s Light Welterweight Fozil Radzhabaliyev.

The sixth victory for the United States was achieved at Heavyweight, when Richard Torrez stopped Moldova’s Tudor Grisman in the opening round.

Surprises of the day

Japan’s Takumi Tamura caused a surprise by defeating Ukraine’s current EUBC European Junior Champion Artem Demianenko, while Azerbaijan’s Orkhan Hasanov performed excellently to beat Denmark’s highly rated Bantamweight Mahdi Hassan Jallaw.

The Round-Up

Romania’s EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Cosmin Girleanu used his strength and skill to beat Indian Pinweight Barun Singh Shagolshem.

Kyrgyzstan’s ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships bronze medallist Anarbek Zhaparov defeated his tough Romanian rival Cosmin Adrian Dima, and Czech Republic’s 16-year-old Artur Sachbazjan triumphed over England’s Jerry Ray at Bantamweight.

Uzbekistan’s current ASBC Asian Junior Champion Profsor Rorimsha is one to watch in the Heavyweight division, especially after his win over Croatia’s Black Forest Junior Cup winner Josip Biletic.

Fact of the day

104 boxers remain in the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships at the beginning of the quarter-final stages.

Quotes of the day

“I thought it was tough fight against a tough opponent, who came to fight, so I am satisfied with my performance. I was thinking about the gold medal, that I can’t let my opponent ruin my dream of winning that gold, and that I have already put the work in the gym so I have to trust my abilities. One of my coaches told me to fight like this is the gold medal bout, and that’s what I did. My opponent was hard hitting, slick, and a tall fighter who could fight both southpaw and orthodox. He made me work for this victory,” said United States’ Marc Castro.

“Thank you very much to all of my coaches for their hard work. I really enjoyed the bout today, and I just hope to go on now and get into the medals tomorrow. I thought it was a good fight and my performance was fine, but I have a lot more to give. I’m looking forward to boxing tomorrow,” said Welsh fighter James Probert, who advanced to the quarter-finals at Pinweight.

“I had a lot of faults in my bout, and I am not completely satisfied with my current performance as I want to win the gold medal in St. Petersburg. My English opponent was a good one today, he had a lot of experience, but I could beat him,” commented Czech Republic’s Artur Sachbazjan.

Tomorrow’s program

The sixth competition day of the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships will consist of 52 contests, as the quarter-finals for all 13 weight classes take place in St. Petersburg.

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