Cuban Alvarez ousts Pachanya in second round

Cuban Alvarez ousts Pachanya in second round

Pachanya Longchin may have been a dominant force in Muay Thai but he failed to match the ring craft of top seed Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba to crash out in the second round of the Aiba World Boxing Championships in Doha yesterday.

Pachanya Longchin, right, in action against Lazaro Alvarez.

In the 60kg division, Pachanya, better known by his Muay Thai name Superbank Mor Rattanabundit, found the skilled Alvarez too tough to handle and the Cuban had little trouble in carding an impressive 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) victory.

With Pachanya bowing out of the world championships, reigning Asian title-holders Chatchai Butdee (56kg) and Wuttichai Masuk (64kg) are the only two Thai fighters left in the tournament, which also serves as a qualifying event for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

The top three finishers in their divisions will automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics.

Wuttichai cruised into the third round with a win over David Biddle of Australia in the second round in the 64kg class on Thursday night.

Wuttichai takes on Rosa Zorrilla of Puerto Rico in today's quarter-finals.

Also today, Chatchai fights Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev for a place in the semi-finals.

Though Chatchai is not taking his opponent for granted, he is hoping to repeat his victory over Akhmadaliev in the final of the Asian Championships in Pathum Thani last month.

"I cannot underestimate him although I have beaten him before,'' said the 30-year-old Chatchai. "He is a southpaw and is fast like me. I believe he is better this time. However, I also have more confidence in my skills after my success in the Asian Championships."

In the second round, Akhmadaliev was in a brilliant form to upset top seed Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan with a 3-0 win.

Thailand coach Taweewat Islam said Chatchai had improved a lot and should be able to get the better of Akhmadaliev again. He added that Wuttichai should also have little problem against his Puerto Rican opponent Zorrilla of in the quarter-finals.

Thailand had a total of six fighters granted places in the world championships.

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