Indian boxers were handed arguably the toughest draw in the Rio Olympic so far. Vikas Krishan kicked thing off by defeating USA’s highest ranked boxed Charles Conwell, but a more daunting fight was between Manoj Kumar and London bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania. The 29-year old fought valiantly to win the first round encounter 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 against his highly rated opponent in the Light Welterweight category.
The pugilist from Haryana said, “My brother, who is also one of my coaches had inspired me after the draw had come out. I’m not a talented boxer, I’m a hard working boxer and that’s how I was able to win this fight. He had better shots than me, but I worked on my movement, which helped me win the match. It took me 20 long years to reach this stage, I wasn’t going to just give it up.”
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He added, “I didn’t have any planned strategy as I headed into the event, it was mostly to hit hard and move around a lot. Most of my strategy was made during the match. My advantage was my height and I made sure he was away from me, because his shots could have knocked me out, that’s the kind of strength he has. Finally, beating the Olympic bronze medallist give me a lot of confidence heading into the next bout.”
Manoj is all set to square off against Uzbekistan’s Fazluddin Gaiznazarov, who destroyed Congo’s Malonga Dzalamou as the referee had to stop the contest. His fight is scheduled for August 4th.The 30-year old’s coach Gurcharan Singh said, “He hasn’t faced the Uzbek before, hence it’s an unknow quantity, he still has time and we need to sit down and understand what can be done through video analysis. But, overall Manoj looks in top shape.”
Shiva Thapa is scheduled to square off against London 2012 gold medallist Robiesy Ramirez at 11:30 IST.
