Boxing:John Joe Nevin secured a place in the last eight of the Olympic bantamweight division today in the ExCel Arena. Nevin now needs one more win to secure a bronze medal after beating Kazak fighter Kanat Abutalipov 15-10.
Nevin led for the entire bout, once more to the backdrop of a large Irish support in the 10,000 capacity arena. He will meet Oscar Fierro Valdez of Mexico for a place in the semi-finals on Sunday night at 8.45pm.
The Irishman shot to a 5-2 lead after the first three minutes. Patient and not prepared to go to war, Nevin worked from the 5-2 to hold an unassailable 10-5 advantage after the second round.
“I improved since the last fight,” he said afterwards. “It’s all about improving in this game and performing. Hopefully I can get better now and go on again. My performances are getting better by the day.”
Although in desperation to bridge the gap, Abutalipov chased Nevin in the third round and although he gained some ground Nevin’s flicking left picked him off and while the Kazak was scoring so was the Irish champion.
The round was drawn 5-5 with Nevin emerging clear winner largely from the industry of his first two rounds.
Fierro Valdez shocked world number one Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan in their last 16 bout. The 21-year-old won all three rounds of the fight, making use of accurate body punches to weaken Yunusov and running out a 13-7 winner.
