All the latest reports from Yerevan, Armenia;
56kg Karrar Aal-Ezirej IRQ v Craig MacIntyre SCO
Stepping into the ring as Team Scotland’s first representative in the competition, Craig was up against Iraqi southpaw Aal-Ezirej. The start of the first round saw Craig trying to dictate the range on his opponent using the jab, but the Iraqi found success with quick feet and countering with the rear hand hook. Craig finished with some successful combinations, but the Iraqi definitely had the lead at the end of the first round which ended 5 – 3.
Going into the second round 2 points down, Craig had to move up a gear in order to gain some momentum in the bout. However, Aal-Ezirej clearly knew his lead could have been extinguished quickly and came out with some quick fire attacks. The Iraqi was finding success in the exchanges, which saw Craig trying to adapt to match the pace of the contest. Unfortunately the round was fairly one sided in favour of Iraq, finishing up 10 – 4.
Craig knew he had to put everything into the last round in order to remain in the competition, faced with a 6 point deficit to claw back. Craig proved in the last round that he had the tools to defeat his southpaw opponent, with flurries of sustained attacks which was troubling his opponent. Craig launched a clinical bent arm assault in the latter stages of the round, at one point looking like he could force a late stoppage on his opponent. However, the final push was not enough to pull the contest back, and sadly Craig’s campaign in the Elite competition was over.
Final Result: Karrar Aal-Ezirej IRQ beat Craig MacIntyre SCO 15 – 9
81kg Narveen Saipawar IND v Scott Forrest SCO
Next up for Team Scotland in the competition was Scott Forrest, taking on an Indian opponent in his preliminary bout. The first round saw the Indian adopt a punch and smother tactic, frequently holding on making it hard for Scott to create space for his punches. Scott did find the target with the lead hook counter, but the Indian had just done enough to take the first round 4 – 3.
However, the tough Scotsman was to change the whole sway of the bout from the opening bell of the second round. Scott immediately applied solid pressure on his opponent, firing several powerful combinations switching the attack from head to body. The Indian boxer could not live with the shear tenacity of Scott, with the Scotsman forcing a standing count with 60 seconds remaining. Scott kept a sensible head applying pressure onto his opponent, picking up additional points to the right up until the end of the round, with score at end of the second round deservedly to the Scotsman
Scott went straight out of the blocks at the start of the final round, realising he had the tools to finish his first contest before the final bell. Sure enough, under a rapid fire of venomous punches, the referee jumped into force another standing count which ended in the referee stopping the contest in favour of the Scotsman – well done Scott!
Final Result: Narveen Saipawar IND v Scott Forrest SCO (Winner – RSC 3)
69kg James Dickie SCO v Julio Sales BRA
Team Scotland’s 69kg representative James Dickie was up against Brazilian Sales in his first bout of the competition. With Brazil now a prominent force in world boxing, this was going to be a huge test for James. However, from the opening bell James did not give the Brazilian a chance to settle, closing down the gap on his opponent with fast speed and well selected clusters of punches. Sales showed his strength in close and caught James with some solid bent arm counter punching, but it appeared that James had the initiative for most of the round. Unfortunately the judges did not see it that way with the round ending 3 – 4 in favour of the Brazilian.
James knew what had been working in the first and followed with the same strategy into the second. Due to the high tempo of the bout, James used his ring craft wisely to recharge the lungs when out of range. The variety of punches James was selecting was undoubtedly unsettling his opponent, taking away the Brazilians opportunity to read what was coming next. Thankfully James managed to claw into the lead with the round finishing 8 – 7 to James.
Tensions were high going into the last round with Team Scotland as James was 3 minutes away from taking a big ‘scalp’ in Sales. It was evident both boxers were beginning to feel the pace of the bout going into the last round, as most of the work being done was close – mid range with both boxers trying to pierce a gap in their opponents guard. James knew he was very close to victory and kept persevering with positive attacks trying to squeeze the more eye catching shots in. The last 30 seconds saw both boxers throw everything at each other whilst trying to maintain a tight defence. With the last round being so close, tension set in on the closing bell in anticipation of the result. Thankfully, James’s perseverance gave had gave him the edge and deserved result in a great win for the Scotsman – Well done James.
Final Result: 69kg James Dickie SCO v Julio Sales BRA (13 – 12)
60kg Yasin Yilmaz TUR v Mark McKeown SCO
Team Scotland’s 60kg representative Mark McKeown was up against Turkey’s Yilmaz in his first bout of the competition. Team Scotland had witnessed the skill set of the slick Turkish south paw from his preliminary bout in the competition; therefore Mark knew he was going in with a World class opponent. The opening bell saw the Turkish boxer deploy what was to be his strategy for the majority of the bout, boxing on the back foot looking for the counters to ‘pinch and move’. Mark kept a cool head though, drifting in and out of punching range looking for the openings. Mark applied sound front foot pressure to contain his opponent, but both boxers took the share of the spoils in the first round with a close score of 4 – 3 in favour of the Turk.
The second round continued along the same path, but now the Turk was starting to hold after feeling the Scotsman’s power. Both boxers started to meet each other in the middle, with each exchanging combinations of 3 and 4 punches to both body and head. The Turk was now being cautioned by the referee for his consistent holding, but unfortunately for Mark the warning never came. Like the first it was hard to separate the boxers at the end of the second, but with some slick counter punching from the Turk the score was fairly accurate at 8 – 6.
With 3 minutes to go the Scotsman had to apply sustained pressure in order to take the lead. Mark again displayed sound ring craft in order to unsettle his opponent, delivering some accurate blows to head and body. However, the Turk was managing to pierce the Scotsman’s defence as Mark pushed forward. Having already felt the power behind the Scotsman’s punches, the latter stages of the last round saw the Turkish boxer utilise all the space in the ring in order to keep away from Mark’s assaults. Unfortunately for Team Scotland, time had run out for Mark to close down his opponent and the clever Turkish boxer had managed to keep a hold onto his lead. A well-rounded performance for Mark however, once again showing he is more than capable of sharing a ring with the world’s elite.
Final Result: Yasin Yilmaz TUR v Mark McKeown SCO (14 – 10)
