Tokyo: India's Satish Kumar has entered the quarter-finals in Olympics boxing after defeating Jamaica's Ricardo Brown in the super heavyweight (+91kg) category. 32-year-old Satish won comfortably against Brown, despite the split verdict, out of his lighter feet and Brown's poor footwork throughout the bout.
Satish allowed Brown to make the same mistake of lunging in with very little balance while the former dominated the bout with his right hand. Brown was looking for the one severe punch to take out Satish but couldn't execute it as he failed to move quickly after launching into the latter.
Indian boxing's High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva remarked that Satish displayed a measured performance, complementing the latter. He added that Satish could have been in trouble if Brown had connected his punches since he is enormous and powerful.
Satish responded to Brown's aggression by being light on his foot. Nieva said that since Brown holds dangerous power levels, Satish focused on scoring and pulling back. He did well, according to Nieva, by moving around the ring, tiring Brown. Satish, however, sustained two cuts on the forehead and chin. Satish and Ricardo were both debuting this time at the event.
Satish will face Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov, the reigning world and Asian champion, next. Satish, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, is from the army and used to play Kabaddi. He was introduced to boxing by his Army coaches owing to his physique. He is a 2018 Commonwealth silver medallist.