Rio 2016: Boxer Krishan Vikas Yadav enters Olympic pre-quarterfinals

Rio de Janeiro Vikas Krishan Yadav gave Indias boxing campaign a rousing start with a dominant victory at the ongoing Rio Olympics over Charles Conwell of the US in the men Middleweight 75kg category at the Riocentrio Pavilion hereVikas Krishan Yadav talking to reporters after winning his bout against Charles Conwell of the US in the mens Middleweight 75kg category at Rio Olympics PicIANSThe Indian outpunched the 18yearold American by a unanimous decision in the Round of 32 bout with all three judges ruling 2928 2928 2928 in favour of the Haryana boxer here on TuesdayVikas will now face Onder Sipal of Turkey in the prequarterfinalsSipal faced a tough challenge from the impressive Benny Muzio of Zambia before winning an entertaining and highly technical bout by a split decisionVikas was at the wrong end of some controversial officiating at the 2012 London Olympics and seemed eager to prove himself at the biggest stage in the world of sportsThe former Asian Games champion from Hisar district of Haryana was by far the superior boxer through all the three rounds and hardly broke sweat against the young Conwell who was appearing in his maiden OlympicsThe strategy was to win the first two rounds My opponent was younger more powerful and had more strength But I banked on my experience Vikas said after the boutI had never seen him fight before so wanted to observe him in the first minute Then I tried to dominate He was bending down to hit and I expected the referee to warn him but he did not he addedGurcharan Singh Sandhu the head coach of the Indian boxing squad said that Vikas strategy focussed on utilising his superior height to prevent Conwell from closing in which made it difficult for the American to score and pepper him with quick jabs to the bodyThe opponent wanted to box close and rough so I advised him to punch clear and from distance The idea was to dominate first two rounds which Vikas did The third round did not count unless you lose by a big margin Sandhu saidVikas dominated the opening round with powerful shots to the body and a couple to the face as well The American kept his head low and absorbed the Indians punches as most of Vikas attempted punches to the face landed on top of his headThe American did land a few body punches of his own but he was totally outgunned by the pugilist from HaryanaVikas displayed superior footwork and defence which coupled with his height advantage ensured that most of Conwells attempted jabs to the face could only brush the top of his headAt the end of the first round all three judges ruled 109 109 109 in favour of the IndianVikas was more relaxed in the second round sitting back and forcing the American to work harder He seemed to have the measure of his opponent relying on his counterpunching style to punch holes in his opponents defence time and againThe 24yearold from the Haryana Police landed quite a few punches to the body and face of Conwell clearly outclassing the American with his speed and excellent combinationsIn the second round two of the judges gave all 10 points to Vikas while the third judge gave him nine pointsComwel was more aggressive in the final round as Vikas focused more on preserving his lead The American produced a much better show in the closing stages but it proved to be too little too lateLater Sipal faced a much tougher challenge from Muziyo The duo went toe to toe with Muziyos superior height and punching causing plenty of problems for the TurkBut it was Sipal who prevailed in the end with a 2829 2928 2928 verdict