With three Team Scotland Boxers in action yesterday, on the first day of the 2013 European Youth Championships, the following bout reports describe the action from Rotterdam, Holland:
56kg: Ukashir Farooq SCOTLAND v Ciobanu Nicusor ROMANIA
Ukashir faced the taller Romanian opponent in his preliminary round, and from the opening bell Nicusor looked at implementing his longer reach on the shorter Scotsman. However, the Romanian began to pay by relying on single punches, when Ukashir started to cover the ground quickly in order to close in with overhand punches and bent arm uppercuts.
As the round matured Ukashir was edging the ring craft battle, sweeping Nicosor into the corners to unleash effective combination punches at mid to close range. Unfortunately however, both boxers began to lock horns in the range battle, with the taller Romanian leaning down onto Ukashir as the Scotsman tried to wriggle away from the clinches. After 4 to 5 clinches at close range, the referee called time out on the bout to issue a warning, and much to the surprise of Team Scotland, Ukashir was deemed to be the culprit of the holding.
Going into the second round, Ukashir persevered with the same tactics that had given him an edge in the first; now realising he had the point deduction to claw back. The Romanian was now looking at keeping Ukashir at bay by looping long rear hand ‘bolo’s’ to the mid-rift of the Scotsman, but struggled to find the target underneath a tight guard. In trying to find the gap to land, Nicusor landed a low blow which was immediately picked up by the referee.
With the Romanian now receiving a public warning for his foul, tempers flared again as both boxers knew they were on even ground. The final 3 minutes saw Ukashir continue to pursue his opponent around the ring, but unfortunately the Scotsman began to lose the accuracy in his punches as the clinches came into play again.
Unfortunately Ukashir received another warning for a low head as he tried to pierce the ‘hanging on’ defence of the Romanian, but very quickly Nicusor was on the wrong end of a public warning for another low blow. Ukashir finished the contest on the front foot trying to win the competitiveness battle, and when the final bell sounded both corners knew it would be a close decision. This was then verified when the split decision was announced, but unfortunately the Romanian boxer edged the very tight decision. Unfortunate for Ukashir, but he can be consolidated in the fact the decision could have went either way.
Winner: Ciobanu Nicusor ROMANIA
64kg: Sam Ball SCOTLAND v Pita Marian ROMANIA
The first round saw both boxers meet in the middle of the ring, but after the initial mid rang exchanges the Romanian southpaw started to box then move on the back foot to evade Sam’s attacks. Sam found success with the long rear hand, once he started measuring then controlling the distance with the jab.
Unfortunately however, Marian was replying with slick cluster punching, effectively switching from head to body and catching Sam with the eye catching last punch of the exchanges. Going into the second round, Sam knew he had another gear to upset the rhythm of his Romanian opponent, immediately employing tempo changes with his feet and punches.
In order to eradicate Marian’s slick escapes after his punches landed, the Scotsman closed down the range with quick feet and contained the Romanian forcing him into ferocious exchanges at close range. Marian managed to find the occasional escape route looking to unleash his effective looping punches in 2’s & 3’s, but it wasn’t long until Sam stalked his opponent down again to deliver solid bent arm punches to the body of Marian, then taking the half step back to unleash the rear hand at long range.
Going into the last round it was anticipated that the Romanian had took the first and Sam the second, so the last 3 minutes would be crucial to swing the victory in the direction of Team Scotland. Both boxers started fast out of the blocks, but as in the second Sam almost immediately took the momentum pushing Marian onto the back foot and leading the majority of the exchanges. Once again the Scotsman stalked down the retreating Romanian, isolating him in the corners and pivoting round the front foot to contain the weltering Marian.
Finding the space to land spiteful bent arm punches to both head and body, not many boxers can match Sam’s relentless pressure and effectiveness at close range boxing. Arguably, the majority of the final 3 minutes saw Sam capture his opponent and continuously land the more effective punches, and when the final bell sounded the hope was Sam had sealed the win in the second and third rounds. Unfortunately however, the Romanian was awarded the split decision, again surprising the Team Scotland contingent who all thought the battling Scotsman had done enough to deserve the win.
WINNER: Pita Marian ROMANIA
60kg: Connor Hyslop SCOTLAND v Mihail Cvasiuc MOLDOVA
The first 30 seconds of the first round gave a sample of how the majority of the contest was to pan out, with both boxers circling the centre of the ring and engaging at mid-range with 2 & 3 punch combinations. The pace was set at a high pace, as neither boxer wanted to retreat out of the boxing zone for fear of looking negative to the judges.
Connor effectively used his first attack to probe the defence of the Moldovan, and then stepped in to unleash bent arm punches with his second attack which were penetrating his opponents guard. Unfortunately however, Cvasiuc became aware of this and cute footwork saw him begin to make Connor miss before landing an effective counter: although both boxers took their shares of the successes, the Moldovan probably just edged the round with these effective counters.
Connor went into the second round realising the contest was still well within his reach. Now, feinting the lead hand as bait to get the reaction, Connor quickly followed with fast and accurate straight rear hand punches over the top of Cvasiuc’s guard. The feints and dummies being utilised by Connor were now beginning to swing the initiative to the Scotsman, however the resilient Moldovan would not welter easy and would not let Connor take the wind out of his sails.
In what was proving to be a very evenly matched contest, again the last 3 minutes would probably provide the springboard to allow either boxer to snatch the victory. Heated exchanges were provided again as the last round begun, with both boxers landing some ferocious shots forcing one another’s head back. The battle continued to flow just like the first 2 rounds; with the referee not having to do a great deal as both boxers fought their way out of any tussle’s and clinches. Unfortunately the Moldovan took the momentum back again as the round matured, just managing once again to get the extra landing punch in at the end of the exchanges. The pace did not settle right up until the final bell, with the less experienced Connor showing his fighting spirit throughout the last round.
On the final bell, Connor had delivered a well-rounded performance, but it was anticipated the Moldovan had edged the high tempo battle, which was verified with the decision going to the resilient Cvasiuc.
WINNER: Mihail Cvasiuc MOLDOVA
Stephen Boyle will box Turk Omer Koc in tomorrow morning’s session in the flyweight division and Connal McDonald will box Israel’s Mikel Chen in the afternoon session.
