Álvarez upsets top seed De la Cruz as Cuba continue to dominate in Tashkent

Erislandy Álvarez of Cuba was the pick of the day as he knocked out World Championships bronze medallist and top seed Alexy de la Cruz of the Dominican Republic in the lightweight category at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Men's World Boxing Championships here.

Cuban boxers have enjoyed a great tournament so far, with other four boxers from the Caribbean nation also progressing to the next round.

Yosvany Veitía defeated Shaffi Bakari of Kenya 5-0 in the bantamweight class while reigning Olympic champion Julio César La Cruz got the better of Australian Ikenna Enyi 5-0 in the heavyweight category.

In the minimumweight class, Alejandro Claro registered a 5-0 win over the fifth seed Yassine Issufo of Mozambique.

Finally, Nelson Williams defeated seventh seed Albino Gabriel of Mozambique 5-0 in the cruiserweight class.

However, Álvarez’ 4-1 win was special as the youngster controlled the bout against the experienced De la Cruz, who is also a Pan American Games bronze medallist.

The day started with Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan taking on István Szaka of Hungary in the bantamweight category.

The 2021 World Championships silver medallist and the top seed started aggressively with Szaka opting for a defensive approach.

Two-time world champion Sofiane Oumiha of France, left, won 5-0 against José Carfunjol of Venezuela ©IBA

It did not work out as he lost 1-4 in the first round.

The Kazakh boxer the swept the second round with a 5-0 scoreline before producing another flawless display to win 5-0 via unanimous decision. 

Meanwhile, two-time world champion Sofiane Oumiha of France also won 5-0 against José Carfunjol of Venezuela.

Rio 2016 silver medallist and second seed Oumiha was a master of the feints, allowing him to control the bout.

That apart, he also has a better connection rate compared to his opponent.

He took the first round of 4-1 before winning the second 5-0.  

Implementing the stick and move technique, Oumiha carried on the momentum in the third round, to seal the victory.

Scottish neutral athlete Aqeel Ahmed, who is supported by the IBA, did well to knock out Yauheni Karmilchyk of Belarus in the minimumweight class.

World Championships bronze medallist Karmilchyk was facing a difficult time against Ahmed, who won the first two rounds in style, being more aggressive and landing some heavy blows to Belarusian's face.

Scottish neutral athlete Aqeel Ahmed, supported by the IBA, left, did well to knock out Yauheni Karmilchyk of Belarus ©IBA

He sealed a 4-1 win to set up a meeting with Claro in the quarterfinals.

Despite a slow start Rio 2016 silver medallist Yoel Finol of Venezuela won 5-0 via unanimous decision against Ruslan Aslikyan of Armenia in the bantamweight category.

Combination was the name of the game for the Olympic medallist, who waited patiently before launching a flurry of punches.

But he facing heat from the Armenian and only managed to win 3-2 in the first round.

The South American upped his game, going all-out attack in the second round and bagged it 5-0.

The boxer from Venezuela boxer went with an attacking strategy in the final round, troubling Armenian Aslikyan, who was not able to block much.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of Russia eased past Han Xuezhen of China in their heavyweight bout.

Gadzhimagomedov was switching between the face and below the belt, making Han play the guessing game.

The 2019 world champion then launched a powerful upper cut for a superb 5-0 win in the first round.

The Chinese boxer was on the receiving end of multiple blows since the bout began and the trend continued in round two and three.

Han backed off to miss the punches as the clock ran out for the Russian to seal the win.