World Boxing: Deepak stuns world champion, Hussamuddin in quarters

Deepak Bhoria sprang the biggest upset of the World Boxing Championships by upstaging world champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov in Tashkent on Sunday.

Bhoria stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the flyweight (51kg) category with the big victory and raised hopes of returning with a medal, having taken out the dangerous Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.

It was one of the best performances by an Indian boxer in recent times, especially the way Bhoria fought in the third round. After two intense and close rounds, Bhoria was lagging and needed a big third round to take the bout. Showing good ring craft, he toyed with the taller Bibossinov, stepping in with punches and quickly moving away from the Kazakh's counter-attacks.

Bhoria hit clean straight punches and followed up with crushing left hooks that rattled Bibossinov. He was equally impressive with his defence, bobbing and weaving to evade southpaw Bibossinov's crosses. Bhoria had lost to him 5-0 at the world championships last year. But he was prepared to avenge his defeat this time.

"My strategy was to go in and score and come out. He was waiting for me to come close, so I had to be careful and quick. I fought with patience and focused on scoring as much as possible," said Bhoria.

“The first two rounds were tough and I knew I will have to attack as much as possible but at the same time try and not receive punches. I had to win the third round cleanly and I am glad I was able to do it.”

The bout went into a review and Bhoria won 5-2. He will next face Zhang Jiamao of China. Bhoria was preferred over Tokyo Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal and he justified the faith of the coaches.

Md Hussamuddin (57kg) continued with his winning streak, advancing to the quarter-finals after a unanimous 5-0 win against Russia’s Savvin Eduard. The two-time Commonwealth Games medallist has been in fine form in the tournament and will be looking to seal a medal when he faces Bulgaria's Javier Diaz Ibanez.

Sumit Kundu (75kg) and Narender Berwal (92+kg) bowed out. Sumit lost 1-3 against Russia’s Pavel Sosulin in Round of 32 while Berwal (92+kg) went down 0-5 against Fernando Arzola of Cuba in Round of 16.

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