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Wednesdays results
51kg Khalid Yafai (ENG) bt Rares (CYP) - RSC1
Khalid negotiated his senior international debut with style and confidence. He landed a quality right cross within the first 10 seconds and never looked back. Realising that he could dominate his opponent he went to work with some relish. The cypriot took a standing count after a good combination and the towel was thrown in while the bell for the first round was still some way off.
An excellent opener for Khalid. Sadly not all contests can be this easy. Khalid faces the double Olympic medallist Jerome Thomas (FRA) in the quarter-finals tomorrow. However, after this excellent showing and a week of hard sparring in Poland a fortnight ago Khalid is confident of causing a major upset.
54kg Joe Murray (ENG) beat Man Soon Chul (KOR) 22:10
Joe Murray improved his performance significantly from yesterday's level to beat the Korean and secure a bronze medal in the process. An energetic first round saw both boxers throwing a lot of punches. Joe edged the round with some more accurate punching. 5:3.
Joe lost a little focus in the 2nd and 3rd spending too much time circling his opponent and failing to dominate the centre of the ring. However, he was still in command at 14:10. After a few stern words from Terry Edwards in the corner Joe emerged strongly for the fourth, punching accurately and maintaining his form to the final bell. A comfortable 22:10 victory in the final analysis.
Joe faces another quality French Olympian in the semi-final on Friday (Hallab Ali)
69kg Neil Perkins bt Orhan Ozturk (HOL) (15:8)
Neil boxed well at long range to negate the threat posed by the Dutchman. Never behind, the team captain extended his lead round by round and eventually emerged with a seven point margin. Neil progresses through to the quarter final stage, maintaining the team's 100% record. A business-like and professional performance. Neil faces a German in the quarters tomorrow.
75kg James Degale bt Kiselev Semen (RUS) (20:11)
Now an experienced international boxer himself James was not over-awed by the prospect of facing a Russian opponent. He started brightly and his fast hands helped him build a 6:3 lead.
The second round followed a similar pattern with James increasing his lead to 12:5. The bout took a twist in the 3rd round, when the Russian realised he was not going to out-box James and so kept piling forward. The result was a series of clinches in which James was warned by the referee for holding. After the third warning James was docked a point. The Russian drew back to reduce the deficit to 5 (15:10).
Any concerns his supporters may have had were soon allayed as James stepped up a gear or two in the final round. He moved well around his opponent and caught him with some blistering trademark long range uppercuts. The highlight of the round being a short left uppercut that floored the Russian and forced a count. James coasted to a 20:11 victory. All told a strong performance against a tough but limited Russian. James faces the Moldovan who beat the local favourite in the quarters.
Danny Price lost to Gananau Petrisor (ROU) 4:21 Corner abandoned contest at end of R3
A controversial bout this with Danny coming up against a small and stocky Romanian. Danny came out brightly and was boxing well at range. However, supporters and corner alike were dismayed to see the score go 7:2, 14:4 and 21:4 against Danny. Terry Edwards, deciding that enough was enough, pulled Danny out at the end of the third in protest. A very disappointing result for Danny who was hoping to go through to the quarters to tee up another 'Battle of Britain' with squad mate Simmons.
Normal service was resumed as Stephen Simmons bt Pulew Terwel (BUL) 16:11 to secure the squad's 8th victory from 9 bouts.
This was a rough contest between two big strong heavyweights who traded some powerful shots. Simmons work was of a higher quality and he opened up a 5:3 lead by the end of R1. There was a fair bit of holding and wrestling in the 2nd which, given the humid conditions, must have been energy sapping.
Stephen marginally extended his lead (8:5). Stephen used his superior fitness and more accurate combinations to move to 14:10 at the end of the third. The Bulgarian did a good impression of someone more suited to the Rugby World Cup in the final round. He seemed intent on grappling Stephen rather than boxing and at one stage got Simmons in a headlock and threw him to the floor only to tread on him as they got to their feet. To his credit Stephen remained discipline and finished with some good clean shots to emerge as a comfortable 16:11 victor.
The delight was evident as Stephen hurdled the ropes on the way out of the ring - shades of Prince Naseem.
All in all an excellent first three days for the team who all bar one progress to the quarter-finals with Joe Murray already leading the way into the semis. Compliments were received from the French performance director and the Greek coach from Cuba.