Hangzhou, China, October 5, 2023: Olympic and world champion Bakhodir Jalolov led Uzbekistan’s gold medal charge on the final night of the boxing competition at the 19th Asian Games on Thursday.
Jalolov, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics champion, won the gold medal in the men’s super heavyweight class scoring a unanimous points decision over Kazakhstan’s Kamshybek Kunkabayev to add another feather to his cap.
It was a grim fight, with Jalolov scoring in the early rounds and then hanging on tiredly to receive the thumbs up from all five judges at the Hangzhou Gymnasium as the curtain came down on the ring.
The best fight of the night had occurred earlier in the evening when world featherweight champion Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan produced a master class of powerful punches, fancy footwork and lastly a stunning victory back flip in an entertaining men’s 57kg bout.
Khalokov knocked out Japan’s Shudai Harada in the men’s 57kg category to give Uzbekistan three of the six gold medals on offer. Cheered on by Uzbekistan’s Minister of Sport Adkham Ikramov and the Secretary General of the Uzbekistan National Olympic Committee, Oybek Kasimov, the 23-year-old Khalokov out-thought and out-fought his Japanese opponent.
Harada had to take three quick standing counts from the referee before his corner threw in the towel midway through the second round to give Khalokov an emphatic victory. After being declared the winner, Khalokov produced two celebratory back flips - much to the delight of the fans.
Hasanboy Dusmatov had earlier given Uzbekistan the gold medal in the men’s 51kg final, defeating Thailand’s Thitisan Panmot in a unanimous decision.
“I have been working hard for this result all my career. There’s a time for everything and today is my time at the Asian Games,” said an elated Dusmatov, who had won silver at the 2018 Jakarta Games and fifth place at 2014 Incheon.
In the ring they slugged it out for gold and quota. A total of 13 gold medals were up for grabs, seven men’s and six women’s, across the Olympic weight divisions. With boxing being a qualifying competition for the 2024 Paris Olympics – 34 berths up for grabs, 14 for men and 20 for women – there had been added spice to the competition over the past few days.
Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan gave China one of two gold medals on the night when he defeated Felix Eumir Marcial of the Philippines in the light heavyweight 80kg class, winning a unanimous decision.
Marcial fought bravely, especially in the third round, but all five judges gave the bout to the hometown favourite.
The other gold medal for China was won by Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg where she defeated Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannnapheng in a unanimous points decision.
“I’m happy because this gold medal was not easy to come by and there was a lot of heartache in it,” Yang said.
In the women’s 57kg final, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Ting was a popular winner with the crowd after receiving a unanimous 5-0 points decision in her favour over Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova to take the gold medal.
“The Olympics is a place every athlete dreams of. It’s a whole other level. I can’t be satisfied because of this gold medal. I need to go back to training so that I can stand on an Olympic podium,” Lin said.
