Boxer Akhil weaves his magic

NEW DELHI: Akhil Kumar usually struts his stuff in the ring with a low-guard style much like an upstart in a low-slung baggy jeans, chewing gum and roaming around the park in the hip-hop rhythm.
So, when he came out on Saturday, circling the ring with his guard up, you wondered.
Then suddenly, out came the open-chested full-throttle right to the left cheek of Englishman Iain Weaver which lifted Weaver a few inches off the ground.
Akhil, at that moment, turned back the clock to Melbourne where he was the gold medalist. Weaver took a few nano-seconds to hit the ground and few more to open his eyes. And when the 20-year-old European silver medalist did open his eyes, he couldn't find Akhil. It was a lost case for Weaver.
"If you noticed my guard was up, it was perhaps the first time you were seeing that because he has a good counterpunch. So I was prepared. Last time when we met, there were no points given to me for uppercuts," said Akhil, who won the bout 11-6 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals. This time they gave me a couple of points. The points on body punches gave me a lot of benefit.
Meanwhile, both Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) entered the semifinals without much fuss. On the other hand, Manpreet Singh (Heavy 91) moved into the quarterfinals.
While, Suranjoy humbled Malaysia's Mohd Subrie 9-2, Amandeep defeated another Malaysian Muhammad Fuad 7-1. Later, Suranjoy said he would not be happy with a bronze.
"I'm never happy when I get a bronze. Right now, I'm not happy that I have ensured myself a bronze. I want to move on fast... move towards getting a gold," said the 24-year-old boxer, who had earlier won the Commonwealth Boxing Championships gold.
Suranjoy stated that he had kept himself preoccupied the last two days by studying his Malaysian opponent Mohd Subrie closely. "I saw him fight a couple of days back and I noticed that he was a close fighter like me. So I thought why not play his game (which is similar to mine)," said Suranjoy.
"In the first round I'm always behind my opponent or that's the impression you get. Although, I lost couple of points in the first round my aim was to catch his game." That's when the Indian started to take the lead, not by counter-attacking but by feigning first.
Suranjoy's next opponent, Pakistan's Haroon Khan, said he was impressed with the Manipuri boxer. "It's going to be tough. I've seen him box. He's strong, has got great stamina and keeps coming forward, said Khan.