Boxing World Championships: Akash Kumar  loses semi-final, ends with bronze medal

Indian boxer Akash Kumar’s sensational run at the AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships ended with a bronze medal. He finished the campaign with a loss in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan upset Akash Kumar's applecart. The Indian boxer had no answers to Sabyrkhan's relentless attack to lose the bout 0-5 in the 54 kg category.

It was India’s seventh medal in one of the biggest boxing events in the world. Akash Kumar joined the elite list of boxers including Amit Panghal (silver in 2019), Vijender Singh (bronze in 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze in 2011), Shiva Thapa (bronze in 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze in 2017) and Manish Kaushik (bronze in 2019) to win a medal at the World Boxing Championships.

Akash Kumar, who was debuting in the Championship, started aggressively as the first round saw both boxers trading heavy blows. However, the Kazakh boxer looked in a better position with relentless punches. It put Akash Kumar on the backfoot at the end of a pulsating opening round.

Akash Kumar's fightback yields no results

Akash Kumar, who played his maiden international tournament at the elite level, tried making a comeback in the second round. He showcased some brilliant skills to overcome the fight that Sabyrkhan put up.

The boxer from Bhiwani gave it his all but somehow fell short when it came to matching up with the speed and accuracy of his opponent. Sabyrkhan capitalized on the momentum in the final round to complete victory by unanimous decision.

With this loss, the Indian challenge came to an end at the 21st edition of the tournament. It has witnessed the participation of 650 top boxers from more than 100 countries from across the world.

The gold medallists of each category will receive $100,000 while silver and bronze medallists will be given $50,000 and $25,000 respectively. Alongside an enormous prize pool of $2.6 million, AIBA will also award the winners with beautifully designed medals. The silverware is made of solid gold and silver respectively, and belts to commemorate their accomplishments.