TRADING BLOWS: Yahia Elmekachari of Tunisia (red) fights against Mohamed al-Awadi of Egypt during their men’s 81-light heavy quarter-finals boxing match at the Arab Games. (Reuters)
Day one of the 2011 Arab Games boxing competition at the Aspire Dome saw some wild moments but ultimately the favourites emerged victorious to progress in their respective weight categories.
Egypt’s Elmohamady Elalfy put in one of the performances of the night in the 81kg division against Algerian Samir Maslouh. Elalfy used superior ring craft to evade his opponent’s dogged pursuit in the first two rounds but with a big lead coming into the third seemed to take his foot off the gas allowing Maslouh to win the round, but not the bout.
In a frantic bout between two 81kg division medal hopes, Morocco’s Amine Azzouzi and Ahmad Alteimat from Jordan, it was Alteimat who took the win, three rounds to nil despite being given a standing eight count early in the third round.
An ugly 75kg fight between Qatar’s Hzam Ahmad Nabah and Egypt’s Mohamed Hikal saw both attempting to win with raw aggression and not much else. Both fighters tried to get forward at every opportunity and subsequently there was no separation for clean shots. However in the third round Hikal changed tactics and began retreating and picking off the Qatari which gave him the win, 12-6.
The night’s first 75kg bout between Sudan’s Mohamed Elrabee and KSA’s Wesam Alalawi opened up with both fighters flailing wildly, but Alalawi quickly reigned himself in and started getting in the better shots from the inside, overcoming his opponent’s superior reach. In the second round, Elrabee caught two good lefts from and was given two standing eight counts before the referee called the fight to a stop, awarding the win to Alalawi.
In the other 75kg bouts Algeria’s Saad Kadous dominated Saad Alhajraf to win 19-1 and Badr-Eddine Haddioui from Morocco beat Mustafa Masoud from Jordan.
The first +91kg bout between Tunisia’s Abdulrahman Ramadan and Kuwait’s Aymen Trabelsi saw the nuggety Kuwaiti doing everything he could to lay a hand on his much taller opponent, but he was repeatedly hit with the jab and caught as he tried to get on the inside and subsequently lost the bout 18-7.
The second +91kg fight was an absolute brawl with neither fighter giving much thought to self preservation. In the second round it was Algeria’s Kamel Rahmani who emerged as the better technician, somehow getting some shots in on his opponent who was charging forward constantly like a raging, but increasingly fatigued bull. Rahmani took the victory on points.
The only 64kg division fight of the night, between Wisam Jabbar from Iraq and Abdelhak Aatakni from Morocco, ended with the victory going to Aatakini 21-11.
