PUNCH LINE
JULIAN TURNER
Controversy, as usual, wasn't far away from boxing at the Olympics but it was good to see a real star emerge in Ukrainian featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko.
The 20-year-old was awarded the Val Barker trophy for being the best boxer of the tournament and his performances, and difficult route to the gold medal, thoroughly deserved the accolade.
Unlike in tennis, where top seeds like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are kept apart until the final, Olympic boxing draws are open and world number two Lomachenko was pitted against world champion Albert Selimov in his first fight.
Selimov had outpointed the Ukrainian 24-14 at the World Championships in Chicago but Vasyl got his revenge in Beijing with a 14-7 win.
He then eased past Uzbekistan's Bahodirjon Sultonov 13-1 and trounced China's Yang Li 12-3 in the quarter-finals.
Many boxers complained they didn't get a fair fight against Chinese boxers, but Vasyl hammered the home fighter without any problems.
Turkey's Yakup Kilic was brushed aside 10-1 in the semi-finals but it turned out Lomachenko had saved his best for last.
While most of the boxing was missed by Thai television in favour of handball and volleyball, we were quite lucky to see a lot of Lomachenko because his fights were scheduled near those involving Thailand's boxers.
Thankfully, his featherweight final against France's Khedafi Djelkhir took place on Saturday night straight after Somjit Jongjohor had beaten Andris Laffita Hernandez for flyweight gold and before Manus Boonjumnong faced Felix Diaz for the light-welterweight title.
While Somjit boxed superbly to beat Hernandez on points, Lomachenko tore through Djelkhir in one minute and fifty seconds of pure aggression.
Vasyl went to work with both hands and forced two standing counts before the referee had seen enough before the end of the first round.
The score was 9-1 when the official stepped in and that seemed conservative, especially considering standing counts and knockdowns aren't awarded points in amateur boxing.
It was a breathtaking display for an Olympic final and, as a spectacle, rivalled Usain Bolt's remarkable triumph in the 100m or Chen Xiexia's dominant display in the 48kg weightlifting to win China's first gold medal.
A bright future looks assured for Lomachenko and he has already said that he will turn professional soon.
Ukraine's most famous boxers at the moment are heavyweight brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitshcko but Vasyl could steal their thunder if he can translate his amateur success to the professional ranks.
Another boxer from the Olympics who would probably do well in the pro ranks is Dominican Diaz, who beat Manus for light-welterweight gold.
Diaz boxes in a professional style and he displayed real presence to work out Manus' style and then maul him in a torrid third round that the Thai did well to see out.
Manus is a special talent and he never takes as many punches as that.
Perhaps the defeat also helped Manus reconsider his pre-Olympic pledge to turn professional as he has now said he will stay in the amateur ranks.
Manus had done well to get to the final in Beijing after being headbutted by Cuba's Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in their semi-final.
The Thai fell to the floor and it brought back memories of WBC atomweight champion Winyu Paradorngym getting knocked out after a clash of heads with Momo Koseki in Japan two weeks ago.
Luckily Manus wasn't as badly hurt as Winyu and he got up to trounce Sotolongo on points before the Diaz match.
For Thailand though, the main praise must go to Somjit who handled himself superbly inside, and outside, the ring.
Although Somjit didn't win the Val Barker trophy, he dominated all of his fights and was one of the best boxers at the Olympics.
Lomachenko may be heading to professional glory but you get the feeling Somjit could do something special with his life now he has retired from the ring.
Julian Turner is the Bangkok Post's Deputy Sports Editor.
Email: juliant@bangkokpost.co.th
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Next
