Russia shows class at championships

Raynell Williams of the US, in blue, and Russian fighter Albert Selimov trade blows during their featherweight (57kg) quarter-final clash at the World Boxing Championships in Chicago on Thursday. Selimov won the bout 25-8. PHOTOS: AP

Russia its power in the quarter-finals of the World Boxing Championships, winning eight of nine matches on Thursday.

Super Islam Timurziev defeated American Michael Hunter 22-15 and heavyweight Rakhim Chakhkeiv beat Eichin Alizade of Azerbaijan 17-6 -- sending both big men to the Beijing Olympics.

Also winning for Russia on Thursday was 2004 Olympic gold medalist Alexey Tishchenko, who beat Pichai Sayota of Thailand in a lightweight match that was stopped in the third round.

The lone quarter-final loss for Russia was by Georgy Balakshin, who was beaten 23-13 by American flyweight Rau'shee Warren.

Heavyweights Clemente Russo of Italy, Nijiati Yushan of China and John M'Bumba of France all won their matches to earn an Olympic berth.

Russo a 15-3 winner over Milorad Gajovic of Montenegro, Yushan easily handled Jozsef Daniel Darmos of Hungary 28-11 and M'Bumba eliminated Mihail Muntean of Moldova 22-13.

Other heavyweights making the Olympics were Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine, Zhilei Zhang of China and Roberto Cammarelle of Italy.

Glazkov's with Jaroslav Jaksto of Lithuania was stopped in the third round. Zhang knocked down Daniel Beahan of Australia with one second remaining in the second round, ending the fight. Cammarelle won by a walkover against David Price of England.

And Olympic bronze medalist Shiming Zou of China easily advanced to the semi-finals with a 22-8 win over Patrick Barnes of Ireland in the light flyweight division. Zou won the gold medal at the 2005 world championships.

The International Amateur Boxing Association's Taiwanese president Wu Ching-kuo said he was pleased by the progress his organization has made to clean up the sport.

Noting 38 different countries had fighters in the quarter-finals, Wu said it reflected sweeping changes implemented since he took over the post. He unseated longtime head Anwar Chowdhry last year.

More are doing well, Wu said, because there is uniformity in officiatiation.

"If the sport can't achieve fairness, the sport isn't worth it," Wu said. "It shows the standard of boxing and the quality of the referees and judges. ... Most important is the judging of the competition. Because it's fair, nobody can dominate. Nobody can manipulate," he said.