New Delhi, 7 May:  Akash Sangwan (67kg)  Nishant Dev (71kg) Naveen  (92 kg)  recorded facile wins and moved to the pre-quarterfinals of the IBA World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Saturday.

Akash overwhelmed Fu Mingke of China in the round of 32 matches. The Indian was quicker than his rival, right from the start and landed some heavy blows on his opponent. 

Akash played from a distance and evaded Fu’s punches throughout the bout. The last round saw a desperate attempt from the Chinese to mount a comeback but the Indians comfortably dealt with him and won 5-0. He will take on Kazakhstan’s Dulat Bekbauov in the last-16 stage on Tuesday.

In the Light Middleweight, Nishant Dev took on South Korea’s Lee Sangmin. The Indian, who had defeated world bronze medalist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the previous round showed his technical versatility. He played the patience game in the first round and gauged the strategy of his opponent while landing enough punches to win the round.

The last two rounds saw both the pugilists exchange some heavy blows but Nishant was the more accurate of the two boxers and secured a unanimous 5-0 win for India. The southpaw will be up against Palestine’s Foqahaa Nidal in the pre-quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Naveen Kumar (92kg) thrashed South Korea's Lee Sangmin in a one-sided contest. The lanky southpaw, who hails from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, used his long reach and height advantage to dominate all three rounds en route to a comfortable 5-0 win. He will square off against 2021 World Championships bronze medalist Enmanuel Reyes of Spain in the pre-quarterfinal.

On Sunday, - Deepak (51kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Sumit (75kg) and Narender (92+kg) will be in action.
Deepak will face Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2021 World Champion Saken Bibossinov in the round of 32 match-up whereas Hussamuddin will fight it out against Russia’s Savvin Eduard in the pre-quarterfinal.  Sumit will start his campaign in the round of 32 bout against Russia’s Pavel Sosulin while Narender will square off against Arzola Lopez of Cuba in the last-16 stage.