Moroccan welterweight Mohammed Rabii capped the perfect end to a season by claiming gold in front of a packed house, including Wladimir and Vitali Kitschko, on the final night of the world championships in Doha on Thursday.
Rabii, who was also named the World Series of Boxing’s Boxer of the Year earlier in the week, outpunched Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov to become world 69kg champion and the first Arab boxer to take gold in the history of the championships.
It also meant he kept his astonishing unbeaten record for the whole season.
Photo: AFP
The ecstatic 22-year-old promptly set-off on a spontaneous lap of honor at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Doha, to the delight of the huge number of Moroccans in the crowd.
In probably the fight of the night, Ireland’s Joseph Ward slugged it out with Cuba’s Julio La Cruz in the light heavyweight division (81kg).
Cruz was the strong favorite going into the bout. He was named the AIBA Boxer of the year for this year and also this year a winner in the Pan American Games and the World Series of Boxing.
The improving Ward, ranked No. 5 in the world, was hoping to emulate compatriot Michael Conlan, who became the first Irishman to claim world championship goal the previous evening.
Ward went on the attack almost immediately and several times in the first round hurt his opponent with good shots.
Gradually though, the classy La Cruz exerted more pressure, picking off Ward repeatedly with his right hand.
In the final minute, the two went punch for punch, with the Irishman desperate to land a knockout to claim the title.
However, even a cut above the Cuban’s right eye could not stop him claiming the third World Championship gold of his career.
He received his gold from the Klitschko brothers, the latest A-list boxers to attend the AIBA event, following the appearance of Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan earlier in the tournament.
Frenchman Tony Yoka, who revealed earlier this week that his father told him when he was just 10-years-old he would win gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, pulled off a major shock to win gold in the Super Heavyweight division (91+kg).
Yoka, 23, narrowly outpointed Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko in a close fight, a reward for his positive approach.
Dychko was the No. 1 ranked boxer in the division, but the young Parisian proved too much for him and the judges were unanimous, scoring it 3-0 in his favor.
Yoka now targets Olympic gold in Rio in 2016.
“I think I can do it [win the gold]. I always think I can win. I know that I have the talent to do it, but now I think I have a big chance to be gold medalist in Rio,” he said.
Azerbaijan’s Elvin Mamashzada upset the seeding to claim gold in the flyweight (52kg) division.
Mamashzada, the second seed, outpoured his Cuban opponent, top-seeded Yosbant Veitia over three bruising rounds.
The Cubans exacted some revenge in the next title decider when Lazaro Alvarez beat Azerbaijan’s Albert Selimov to claim the lightweight crown (60kg).
The Yoka fight ended 10 days of competition, which AIBA president Wu Ching-kuo of Taiwan said had been a “huge step for the global development of boxing.”
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