T&T Olympic boxer Nigel Paul, who was beaten in the quarterfinal round of last month’s Pan American Games, will get his campaign at the AIBA World Boxing Championship in Ekaterinburg Russia going Monday, when he faces Turkey’s Muhammed Aydin in the Superheavyweight (+91 kg) division, at the 5,000 capacity seater Ekaterinburg EXPO Arena.
On Saturday meanwhile, Pan America Games bronze medal winner Michael Alexander continued his impressive start for the three-member T&T boxing contingent when he defeated Petra Novak of the Czech Republic via a 3-2 split decision in their round-of-32 lightweight (57-63 kg) bout.
Alexander had also defeated Ireland’s Wayne Kelly by a similar narrow 3-2 split decision and will next come up against the USA’s Keyshawn Davis tomorrow for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The meeting with American Davis will be the second for Alexander in recent months, after their semifinal encounter at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, which the latter won.
T&T’s other boxer in Russia, Tyroon Thomas, was ousted in the men’s welterweight (63-69 kg) division by Germany’s Nick Bier 5-0 on Friday.
In total, around 450 athletes from 87 countries are competing in the most important event of their boxing careers in 12 days of competitive fights.
The opening of the event, which took place on September 8, was held at the Convention Center in the presence of Olympic champions and world champions Oleg Saitov, Alexey Tischchenko and Egor Mekhonsev, who are the faces of the championships.