Associated Press
October 13
Ikrom Berdiev outpointed South Korea's Choi Ki-soo Sunday as Uzbekistan won all three heavyweight divisions on its way to five Asian Games boxing gold medals.
South Korea took three gold medals, Kazakstan had two and Pakistan won its first gold medal of the Asian Games.
Berdiev took control of the 81-kilogram light heavyweight bout early, landing seven punches in the first round on his way to a 25-19 victory over Choi.
"He was moving very slowly," said Berdiev. "I waited for him to attack and then made my move. We all trained very hard for these games and it paid off today."
Uzbekistan picked up its fourth gold when Sergey Mihayilov stopped Pakistan's Ali Shoukat with a stunning left 1 minute, 35 seconds into the third round of the 91-kilogram heavyweight final.
Rustam Saidov capped the gold rush with a 29-21 win over Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov in the 91-kilogram super heavyweight final.
Uzbekistan's Dilshod Mahmudov won his nation's first boxing gold Sunday, using a crushing left to defeat Baik Jong-sub 27-17 in the 60-kilogram lightweight final.
Uzbekitan's Utkirbek Haydarov won gold in the 75-kilogram middleweight final against Pakistan's Ali Khan Ahmad when the referee halted the bout 16 seconds into the third round.
"We have a lot of good fighters," said Uzbekistan boxing scout Tayma Niyazov. "This is our tradition. During the days of the Soviet Union we provided the best boxers."
It was also a good day for the host nation.
In Sunday's first bout, Kim Ki-suk defeated Harry Tanamor of the Philippines. Kim was given a standing eight count in the first round but came back strong in the third round of the 48-kilogram bout, stunning Tanamor with a right-left combination on his way to 24-19 victory.
Kim Won-il cruised to a 27-17 victory over Uzbekistan's Bekzod Khidorov in the 54-kilogram bantamweight final for South Korea's second gold.
ADNAN Yusoh’s hopes of becoming the first Malaysian boxer to reach the final in the Asian Games were dashed in the semi-finals of the men’s lightweight (below 60kg) division at the Masan Gymnasium yesterday.
The 24-year-old Kelantanese failed to live up to his billing as the Asian Championships’ winner and had to settle for the bronze after losing to Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Mahmodov 18-34.
Adnan, who won a bronze in the 1998 KL Commonwealth Games, was no match for the 20-year-old Mahmodov.
Adnan was cautious in the first round and trailed 2-6. He gave a better fight in the second and narrowed the score at 9-12.
But in the third round, Adnan received a few blows to the face and referee P.K.M Raja had to make two stand counts. By then he was trailing 15-28. In the final round, Adnan failed to throw a good punch and lost 18-34.
Adnan was frustrated with his performance yesterday.
“I failed to give my best although I am more experienced than the Uzbek. My punches failed to land while Mahmodov, who had longer reach, hit me with a few good punches,” he said. “The pressure was on me as the Asian champion and I failed to live up to my billing. I am disappointed for losing to a rookie.”
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