Boxing: Mohammed Hussamuddin reaches semi-finals at Boxam International, Amit Panghal bows out

CASTELLON: The seasoned Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Manish Kaushik (63kg) were among three Indian male boxers to enter the semi-finals of the 35th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain on Thursday even as world silver-medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out with a stunning quarter-final loss.

Olympic-bound Vikas and Manish, both bronze-winners from the world championships and the Commonwealth Games, joined Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) in the last-four stage.

Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Hussamuddin (57kg) defeated Italian Simone Spada 5-0 to make the last-four stage, where he will take on Panama's Orlando Martinez.

Manish was up against two-time Asian silver-medallist Zakir Saifiulin of Kazakhstan and in an intensely fought bout, the Indian prevailed in a split decision.

Vikas also staved off a stiff challenge from Italian Vicenzo Mangiacapre before winning in a split decision.

However, it was curtains for Panghal, also bound for Tokyo. He lost in a split decision to European Games champion Gabriel Escobar.

It was a stunning defeat for Panghal, who had won a gold medal in the Cologne World Cup a couple of months back. The 23-year-old ended up paying for his rather weak defence in the bout against Escobar.

The Spaniard took him by surprise in the opening round and though the Indian came back confidently in the last three minutes, after an even second round, the damage had been done.

Hussamuddin, on the other hand, came up with a dominating performance against Spada, displaying some great footwork and combination punches to outfox his rival.

Earlier, Asian champion Pooja Rani (75kg) entered the semifinals to secure a medal but two-time world bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) bowed out after a quarterfinal loss. Agencies

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