ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games
Boxing
Men’s Light Welter (64kg) & Welter (69kg) 15 Aug. 2004
ATHENS, 15 August – It may be an indoor venue, but at the Peristeri Boxing
Hall today the stars shone brightly in the hotly contested Welter Weight
(69kg) category.
Making his return to Olympic competition after an eight year absence, Cuba’s
double World Champion Lorenzo ARAGON ARMENTEROS was devastating in his
destruction of local hope Theodoros KOTAKOS (GRE), the referee stopping the
contest midway through round three when KOTAKOS appeared defenceless, and
the Cuban led 34-14.
Vanes MARTIROSYAN (USA) made a solid start for his medal campaign, beating
Benamar MESKINE (ALG) 45-20 to set up what should be a fascinating clash
with ARAGON ARMENTEROS in the round of sixteen on Thursday, 19 August.
MARTIROSYAN will need to be at his very best to beat the Cuban, but going
into this tournament the Armenian born American was confident he could win
the gold medal.
Another Welter Weight to impress was Ruslan KHAIROV (AZE) who showed his
power against Canadian Adam TRUPISH.
A solid right cross at the start of round three opened a nasty cut on the
bridge of TRUPISH’s nose, and on the advice of the ring side doctor, the
referee stopped the fight.
World Championship silver medallist Sherzod HUSANOV started slowly against
Jean Carlos PRADA (VEN), but knocked the Venezuelan to the canvas twice on
his way to a 33-20 points decison.
Oleg SAITOV (RUS), who is chasing his third Olympic gold medal, was his
usual methodical self against Miloud AIT HAMMI (MAR).
He started slowly, but his experience told in the end and he scored a
comfortable points decision.
In the Light Welter Weight (64kg) division, the stand out performance of the
afternoon session came from stylish Bulgarian Boris GEORGIEV, who totally
outclassed Nasserredine FILLALI (ALG).
When the referee stopped the contest late in round two, GEORGIEV had taken a
20 point lead over the Algerian, enough to book a contest against Rock ALLEN
(USA) in the next round.
In the evening session Alexander MALETIN (RUS) was devastating in his
demolition of Saleh KHOULEF (EGY) and must be the boxer everyone in the
Light Welter Weight division fears most.
Willy BLAIN (FRA) was sharp and effective in disposing of Mohamed Ali SASSI
(TUN), but the Frenchman will have a more difficult job in his next round
clash with the ‘Russian Tank’ MALETIN.
Ukrainian hard man Viktor POLYAKOV has also come into medal contention,
after his slugging contest against Gerard O’MAHONY (AUS).
ONS nb/sad
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress