Boxing Day 8 Review: The unbeatable Korobov has been beaten

(BEIJING, August 16) -- The eighth day of the Olympic Boxing tournament was full of upsets, as medal favorites Matvey Korobov and Lee Ok-sung were both bundled out of the tournament. It seems that being described as a "medal favorite" is like a curse because most of the favorites have been eliminated from the tournament.

Flyweight (51kg)

Tunisia's Walid Cherif shocked Lee Ok-sung of the Republic of Korea, defeating him 11-5. Lee, the 2005 world champion, was one of the medal favorites in this weight class, especially after he finished off Rau'shee Warren 10-9 in the last round. Warren, a boxer from the United States, is the reigning world champion.

Lee began aggressively but he could not break through Cherif's solid defense. Lee trailed Cherif 3-4 at the end of the second round.

Lee was eager to score more points in the third round, but his defense was found wanting and Cherif earned four more points. Cherif ultimately won the bout 11-5.

The reactions of Cherif and Lee after the bout could not have been more different. Cherif kissed the floor of the ring while Lee burst into tears.

"I didn't expect to lose today. I think maybe I was too confident today and that's why I lost," said Lee.

"It might be my last chance to compete at an Olympic Games, so I really wanted to get a medal for my family, but I failed, so I do regret that a little."

In the bout between Thailand's Somjit Jongjohor and Azerbaijan's Samir Mammadov, the 33-year-old Jongjohor successfully controlled the pace of the whole match, leading 7-0 at the end of the third round.

Although Mammadov managed to earn two points in the last round, it turned out to be a mere consolation. The bout ended 10-2 in favor of Jongjohor.

"I have beaten him before. His footwork is really good, so I only threw punches that would score, especially to his torso. Once I led he still kept bouncing and I could feel that he was starting to take deep breaths and he was tired. So I took advantage of that," said Jongjohor after the match.

The Thai veteran said before the tournament that Beijing 2008 would be his last boxing contest.

Jongjohor's next opponent is Anvar Yunusov from Tajikistan, who eliminated Brazil's Robenilson Vieira yesterday.

Also in this weight class, Italy's Vincenzo Picardi defeated Juan Carlos Payano of the Dominican Republic 8-4. Russia's Georgy Balakshin eliminated Mirat Sarsembayev of Kazakhstan 12-4.

Middleweight (75kg)

The fight between Russia's Matvey Korobov and Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev was the most important bout yesterday. Korobov, the reigning world champion, entered the tournament as a heavy medal favorite and was widely regarded as unbeatable.

However, Artayev managed to beat the "unbeatable". The Russian settled better at the beginning of the bout, winning the first round 2-0. The two boxers each scored in the next two rounds, and Korobov was leading 7-6 in the third round.

Artayev suddenly rallied in the last round, earning four consecutive points and winning the bout 10-7.

Artayev won gold at Athens 2004, but did not have to fight against Korobov because the Russian boxer did not attend the event. With this big win, he has now firmed as the favorite for the gold medal at Beijing 2008. Artayev should defeat his next opponent, Great Britain's James Degale and advance to the semifinals.

Ireland's Darren John Sutherland caused another surprise in this weight class when he defeated Algeria's Nabil Kassel. The two boxers were close in the first three rounds; however, Sutherland started to control the ring in the last round, landing a series of heavy punches. The judges were forced to stop the bout for safety concerns and award the win to Sutherland.

Other medal prospects in this weight class advanced to the quarterfinals as expected. Alfonso Blanco Parra of Venezuela defeated Argenis Nunez of the Dominican Republic 18-7 and Cuba's Emilio Correa Bayeaux defeated Ukraine's Sergiy Derevyanchenko 18-4.

Light Flyweight (48kg)

Medal favorite Zou Shiming advanced to the semifinals as expected but was given a rigorous test against France's Nordine Oubaali.

Both fighters sported fast movements, with Zou throwing the majority of punches. However, the French boxer remained compact in his defense and gave Zou few opportunities to score a point. The bout finished as a low-scoring affair with the scores tied at 3-3. The judges ruled that Zou had landed the most punches and was therefore the winner.

"Nordine (Oubaali) did a great job. He wasn't only fighting the world champion but also the crowd. Last time they fought, he lost to Zou Shiming in Chicago (the 2007 World Championships) and since then he has (made) a lot of progress," said Oubaali's coach Dominque Nato.

"We tried to be really focused on every punch (Zou) threw. It was completely different from what we did in Chicago."

Another strong medal contender, Luis Yanez of the United States, lost to Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj 7-8. Both boxers were fast, but Purevdorj landed the most punches.

"The US boxer is very strong and I beat him with the Mongolian style," said Purevdorj after the match.

Other medal contenders in this weight class reached the quarterfinals as expected. Thailand's Amnat Ruenroeng defeated Winston Montero from the Dominican Republic 7-3 and Cuba's G Yampier Hernandez thumped Georgiy Chygayev of Ukraine.