World Amateur Championships - Day Three: Birmingham's Khalid Yafai shines by Tom Walker Oct 26th 2007

Day Three at the XIV AIBA World Championships (Thursday 25th October) 51kg Flyweight Khalid Yafai (ENG) bt Derenik Gizhlaryan (ARM) 22:10 18 year old World Cadet Champion Khalid Yafai (Birmingham City ABC) acquitted himself extremely well on his senior major championship debut against the southpaw Armenian. Khalid kept the first two rounds even by the almost exclusive use of fast right hand counters. In the third round Yafai added a sweeping left hook to his repertoire to take a 5 point lead, eventually graduating to fast four punch combinations in the last round to run out a comfortable 22:10 winner. This despite having received a two point deduction for slapping in the second. The deduction being administered without any prior cautions from the referee. (R1 2:2, R2 8:8, R3 15:10). Khalid boxes next on the Saturday morning. Khalid Yafai: "Glad I've got the first one out of the way." Terry Edwards: "He is the youngest member of the team, spent two days waiting, yet showed remarkable maturity. He has recently progressed from the junior to senior team and now knows he is part of the team by right. He has really enjoyed the whole experience of boxing in a senior world class tournament." 51kg Flyweight Andrew Selby (WAL) lost to Violito Payla (PHI) RSCO 4:24 Andrew Selby of Splott Adventure ABC, Barry, Wales tried his heart out against Phillipino southpaw (ranked 5 in World), but found no matter what he tried the strong experienced Phillipino was too much for him. The bout ended 4:24 with 56 seconds to go in the third round. While Selby was outclassed he wasn't hurt. Welsh Coaches Tony Williams and Colin Jones believe Selby cannot fail to have benefitted from sharing the ring with such classy opposition who, incidentally, boxes Khalid Yafai in the next round on Saturday morning. 60kg Lightweight Frankie Gavin (ENG) bt Omar Ward (BAR) 20:0 Fun-time Frankie (Hall Green ABC, Yardley, Birmingham) rolled out a super smooth performance to out box and outclass a very willing Omar Ward from Barbados. Frankie had the satisfaction of leaving the ring with one minute and eight seconds to go in round three having won by the outscore rule 20:0. (R1 5:0, R2 14:0, R3 20:0) Quote from Gavin "Felt good and strong at the weight. Thought I was sharp tonight". Terry Edwards: "Excellent, a masterclass" 69kg Welterweight Neil Perkins (ENG) lost to Zoran Mitrovic (SRB) 12:17 Team captain Neil Perkins (Kirkdale ABC, Liverpool) was defeated by fellow southpaw and old foe Serbia's Zoran Mitrovic. Mitrovic had outpointed Perkins somewhat controversially in the European Championships last year. In a scruffy ill-disciplined performance Neil attempted to subdue his equally awkward and untidy opponent by rushing at him. The scores reflect the contest (R1 2:3, R2 6:5, R3 8:9). In the melee Neil managed to pick up two two point deductions with the Serb also collecting a two point deduction, a fair description of an untidy contest. Perkins left the ring very annoyed with himself. A frustrated Terry Edwards GB Head coach: "The Serb didn't win it. Neil threw it away. He saw the red mist and threw his tactics out of the window." 81kg Light Heavyweight Tony Jeffries (ENG) bt Daniel Kooij (NED) 13:6 After a cautious start Tony Jeffries (Sunderland ABC) defeated Dutchman Daniel Kooij 13:6 in a competitive four rounds. Having ahd a look in the first round Tony pressurised his opponent in the second to end the round with a three point lead. The third saw Jeffries counter punch accurately to establish a 10:4 lead. In the final round Jeffries skilfully protected and extended his lead with accurate counters. A quote from Tony "I thought it was a good fight against a strong opponent and a good performance from me." Terry Edwards "Tony has been out for a while. He has now got over his injury problems and has come back with determination. Hopefully he is back to his old self". Thursday's British results round up: 51kg Khalid Yafai (ENG) bt Derenik Gizhlaryan (ARM) 22:10 51kg Andrew Selby (WAL) lost to Violito Payla (PHI) RSCO3 4:24 60kg Frankie Gavin (ENF) bt Omar Ward (BAR) 20:0 69kg Neil Perkins (ENG) lost to Zoran Mitrovic (SRB) 12:17 81kg Tony Jeffries (ENG) bt Daniel Kooij (NED) 13:6 Friday schedule: 54kg Joe Murray (ENG) v Carlos Cuadras Quiroa (MEX) 54kg Chris Jenkins (WAL) v Wanniarachchi Manju (SRI) 64kg Bradley Saunders (ENG) v Gumersindo Carrasco Perrera (ARG) 91kg Stephen Simmons (SCO) v Ousmane Diatta (SEN) Saturday schedule: 51kg Khalid Yafai (ENG) v Violito Payla (PHI) +91kg David Price (ENG) v Mohamed Samoudi (FRA) Full bout reports for all of the boxers will be available on the ABAE website on a daily basis.

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