Jai Bhagwan in second round of World Boxing

MILAN - India’s Jai Bhagawan defeated Rodriguez Angel of Venezuela in the 60 kg category to advance to the second round of the World Boxing Championships here.

Bhagawan’s crushing 10-4 victory over Rodriguez here Wednesday brought back smiles to the Indian team after three boxers made an exit on the opening two days of the competition, including Beijing Olympic quarter finalist Jitender who was outplayed by Tajik Yunusov Anvar in the 54 kg category.

Bhagawan dominated from the start, taking good advantage of his taller frame than his rival’s.

Bhagawan kept attacking the Venezuelan with straight punches combined with left hooks in between to chalk up a lead of 3-1 at the end of first round. He increased the lead to 7-1 by the second round.

In round three, Rodriguez returned strongly and attacked Bhagawan relentlessly and came closer at 4-7. Bhagawan, however, pulled ahead with three quick punches to take the bout beyond the Venezuelan’s reach.

Bhagawan will next face Eric Donovan of Ireland here Friday. The two had met earlier at a meet in Czech Republic, where Bhagawan had lost in a close encounter.

Jitender, who had moved up to this weight category from the 51 kg at the Beijing Olympics, was totally outplayed by Yunusov. The Indian was disqualified in the the third round when he was down 6-20 after the referee gave him three warnings for “holding and pushing his opponent”.

Apart from Jitender, other Indian boxers to lose their first-round bouts were Asian Championships gold medalist Suranjoy Singh (51kg) and Manoj Kumar (64 kg).

In Friday’s bouts, Akhil Kumar will take on Navarro Gonzalez Roberto of Dominican Republic in the 57 kg category while in the 48 kg, Thokchom Nanao Singh meets Mamishzade Elvin of Azerbaijan.