Tokyo 2020 boxing results (Day 6, Morning Session): Jalolov dominates first fight, much more

Bakhodir Jalolov kicked off the super heavyweight action, plus much more from Tokyo 2020.

By Scott Christ@scblh1 Jul 29, 2021, 1:09am EDT

Men’s middleweight

Oleksandr Khyzhniak (Ukraine) def. Yuito Moriwaki (Japan), 5:0: Khyzhniak is the top seed and boy, did he look like what you’d think a top seed would look like, my goodness. This is a terrific boxer, not really a Lomachenko/Usyk type of stylist for recent Ukrainian Olympic stars, a little more basic, but extremely good at that. His fundamentals are on-point, he throws a lot of punches, looks to have some heat on them, not afraid to work in close if an opponent tries to make him do that. A dominant showing, gonna be tough to beat. The host country fighter does exit in the round of 16, but he went out swinging his best at a terrific opponent.
Euri Cedeno (Dominican Republic) def. Francisco Veron (Argentina), 3:2: Cedeno kinda had to survive here. He had a great first round despite getting clipped late, did enough for most of the judges in the second, and then clearly lost the third but not badly enough for it to bite him. But Veron, who is 3-0 as a pro and will go back to that now, certainly pushed and had his moments in the fight. Cedeno now faces Khyzhniak and you figure he’s going to have to be right about perfect there.

Arman Darchinyan (Armenia) def. Andrej Csemez (Slovakia), 5:0: Csemez started this well but lost the plot and lost the fight. Darchinyan is the nephew of former pro champion Vic Darchinyan, who was a terrific, fearsome flyweight in his prime. Csemez also lost a point in the third for holding, he kind of just fell apart once Darchinyan really got it going.
Eumir Marcial (Philippines) def. Younes Nemouchi (Algeria), RSC - Injury: This got stopped in the first round, feel bad for Nemouchi, because the cut opened on a clash of heads and was made worse on a punch. But he’d also already been dropped once and Marcial was clearly the better fighter. It’s been a good run in Tokyo for the Filipino fighters so far and Marcial looks like a solid medal contender. He gets Darchinyan next, and Darchinyans have a mixed history against Filipinos.

Bakhodir Jalolov (Uzbekistan) def. Mahammad Abdullayev (Azerbaijan), 5:0: Jalolov is the top seed and also the very, very clear favorite to win gold in this division. He’s already 8-0 as a pro, though against very light opposition. He dominated here, boxing well at range, landing some good power shots and forcing a standing eight in the second round. A one-sided matchup here, Abdullayev just not near the level, did well to go the distance, really. And he tried.
Satish Kumar (India) def. Ricardo Brown (Jamaica), 4:1: Let’s call it like it was, this was not a good fight to watch. Brown couldn’t do a whole lot effectively and while Kumar was better, he didn’t exactly leap off the screen, but he did deserve the win. He’s also India’s first-ever Olympic super heavyweight. Don’t think he’s any threat to Jalolov, really, but crazy things can happen.
Frazer Clarke (Great Britain) def. Tsotne Rogava (Ukraine), 4:1: Another kind of dull fight, but is what it is and all. Clarke did what he had to do, didn’t let Rogava get a lot done — a few body shots, nothing real big overall. Clarke was solid and got the job done. Rogava is a former Muay Thai kickboxer who won gold medals at the World Championships in 2012, 2017, and 2018, and is now trying his hand at boxing. Hey, he got to the Olympics. He’s had one pro fight, we’ll see if he does more.

Mourad Aliev (France) def. Siyovush Zukhurov (Tajikistan), 5:0: Not meaning to be rude or insulting or whatever — the good Lord knows I’m no muscular physical specimen myself — but Zukhurov is a little chunky guy, and Aliev is a big, strapping, athletic guy, and just visually, this one was kind of amazing. Zukhurov really tried but had nothing for Aliev, who will also be a tougher style matchup for Clarke than Rogava was in the quarterfinal.

Buse Naz Cakiroglu (Turkey) def. Tursunoy Rakhimova (Uzbekistan), 3:2: Very, very close, could easily have gone the other way and Cakiroglu — the top seed in the division — openly acknowledged that after, showing great respect to Rakhimova, who has some awkward rhythms and really sells out on offense, making her a tough opponent. Good, interesting fight that had some tension going to the cards.

Jutamas Jitpong (Thailand) def. Irish Magno (Philippines), 5:0: Jitpong just the better fighter here, no real mystery. A pretty thorough out-classing, honestly, with Magno barely landing anything at all. Jitpong’s going to be another threat to Cakiroglu in the quarters.
Nina Radovanovic (Serbia) def. Ornella Havyarimana (Burundi), 5:0: A mismatch, really, Havyarimana didn’t do much of anything effectively, Radovanovic had it more or less all her way. Havyarimana did try throughout, never just gave up on the fight, but it was clearly Radovanovic here, and she’s been really strong in back-to-back fights now.
Hsiao-wen Huang (Chinese Taipei) def. Giordana Sorrentino (Italy), 5:0: This was close in the first, Huang winning three of the five cards but Sorrentino doing some solid work, too, only for Huang to make some adjustments and take over the fight in the second, going up 2-0 on three cards and just needing to avoid total disaster in the third. And she swept that one, too.