Keevin ‘Lightning’ Allicock punched his way closer yesterday to earning a medal at this year’s International Boxing Association (IBA) Men’s World Boxing Championships currently underway at the Humo Arena in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The prized featherweight stopped Yhlas Gylychjanov of Turkmenistan in the round-of-32 stage on yesterday’s opening day of the championships which will conclude on May 14.
Fighting out of the red corner, the orthodox Allicock overwhelmed Gylychjanov with great speed, ring generalship and crisp punches, forcing referee, Alisher Altayev to put an end to the contest in 1:33 of the third and final round.
The heroics of the 23-year-old, who dropped Gylychjanov in round two, enabled him to progress to the round-of-16 stage where he will face Khalokv Abdumalik of Uzbekistan on Friday.
Guyana’s other representative at the event, light heavyweight, ‘Dynamite’ Desmond Amsterdam will begin his quest for glory also on Friday in the round-of 16 stage.
The Sportsman-of-the-Year, will match gloves with Bulgaria’s Kristiyan Nikolov.
At this year’s event, big stakes and big money is on the line.
More than 640 boxers are currently registered to participate in 13 men’s weight categories.
Seven defending World Champions are among those who will fight for glory in Tashkent, including Sofiane Oumiha from France, Tomoya Tsuboi and Sewonrets Okazawa from Japan, Loren Alfonso from Azerbaijan, Saken Bibossinov from Kazakhstan, Yoenlis Hernandez Martinez and Julio La Cruz from Cuba to shine in the ring again.
Many more medallists from various World Championships editions are going to be in action where strong newcomers at the international stage and experienced participants are going to challenge the titleholders.
Double prize money fund of US$5.2 million is at stake, with gold medallists receiving US$200,000. For runners-up, the prize is US$100,000, and each of the third place is awarded with US$50,000. (Emmerson Campbell)
