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Thank you for joining us today. Be sure to catch Shiva Thapa's fight at 7 pm later on today.
Of our boxing contingent, Manoj Kumar was expected to be the dark horse. Some way to prove the doubters wrong by upsetting the London Olympics Bronze Medallist and Gold Medallist in the 2010 Youth Olympics Games!
The scorecard reads 29-28,29-28 and 28-29 in favour of the Indian! No one saw his coming!
Wow, what a performance!
It's a split decision, but Manoj Kumar upsets a really decorated boxer!
Manoj Kumar WINS!
That round could go to Petrauskas, but Manoj Kumar could edge the fight as long as it isn't a 10-8 to the Lithuanian in the final round
Manoj could still take this if he survives this round. Petrauskas chases him with those hooks but Manoj hangs on! The bell goes!
But Manoj seems to have heart and toughness for days as he gets back up and keeps going. Petrauskas lands a short powerful uppercut and Manoj seems to be hanging on here
Kumar must fight smart here and not get drawn into a brawl. Kumar with a nice combination that is returned by a vicious hook that sends the Indian to his knees. Standing 8 count!
Petrauskas tries to land that vicious hook from the pocket, while Manoj Kumar is looking to maintain distance
Did Kumar edge round 2 as well?
Round 3 starts!
Simple dynamic here; Kumar is trying to keep this as a boxing match. Petrauskas is making this a brawl. The winner would be decided by what type of fight plays out in the third round.
Manoj is trying to make this a boxing match again as he lands body shots from distance again. He's landing more here now with shots to the head from distance and the occasional shot to the body.
Tactics are out of the window here as both fighters seem inclined to stand and bang here. Petrauskas lands a couple of nasty left hooks as Kumar tries to land big shots of his own
Phew, close round there but Manoj comes out for the second round. Was he hurt at the end of the first?
Petrauskas lands a powerful hook and Kumar staggers away as the first round gets over.
Manoj kumar trying to land the uppercut here into a ducking Petrauskas, but the Lithuanian is covering up solidly as he closes the distance to try and land that devastating left hook.
Manoj is going to the body as Petrauskas tries to land that vicious looking left hook. Manoj is trying to maintain distance as with his jab
Petrauskas wastes no time as he closes the distance. This is going to be a hell of a fight!
And we're on the way!
The introductions are being made. Fingers crossed people!
Manoj Kumar comes out followed by Petrauskas
While waiting for Manoj Kumar's fight to start, here is a quick read of his chances in the competition
Round 3 is in the books. Fazliddin takes this easy. Scores should be 30-27 across the boards if the judges have anything remotely similar to eyes.
So far this has been another round for the Uzekistani fighter, as Malonga just seems overmatched. If Manoj Kumar gets past his Lithuanian opponent, Fazli won't be any easier an opponent.
His gauge of distance has been impeccable thus far. His punches are landing, but Malonga's just miss everytime.
But Fazli keeps walking him down and landing a right hook to the body followed by a left to the face. Malonga gets another standing 8 count. This is a boxing showpiece by Fazli thus far.
Round 3 kicks off. Malonga is swinging wildly here. Really some oomph in those right hooks. But Fazli just isn't there. It isn't even great head movement, as it is just weaving out of the way.
Round 2 gets over. Fazli takes this fight. His lead left is landing time and again.
Fazli backs him into a corner and tees off with body-head-body-head.
Oh, Malonga gets a standing 8 count!
Neither boxer doing a whole lot of damage, but Fazli is having the better round again by the looks of it. He isn't overcommitting and getting drawn into a corner chasing Malonga, which is what the Congolese fighter is baiting him to do.
Malonga swings, wildly sometimes, but Fazli drifts away, and is there to land the occasional left straight as a counter
Fazli starts Round 2 by finding his lead left. Malonga is moving around, but this time it looks like Fazli has the measure of the distance.
Malonga isn't landing too much either, as both men circle out a first round that promised much, but didn't really explode into life. Fazli took that round through pressing and dominance
Malonga's head movement is something. Fazli is standing in front of him but is having trouble finding the mark
Round 1 kicks off, as Fazli seems to be walking down Malonga. Both men seem light on their feet and are trying to establish range.
The bout taking place now is between Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan and Dival Forele Malonga Dzalamou of Congo. The winner will go on to face either Manoj or Petrauskas
He goes up against Petrauskas today, who is a Bronze medallist in the London Olympics of 2012. And he's also a southpaw, meaning that Manoj would have his work cut out for him.
While waiting for the bout to start, do feel free to read our features about Manoj Kumar's road to Rio 2016.
He's fighting at the 64kg weight category, and goes up against Evaldas Petrauskas from Lithuania today.
Hello everybody, and welcome to our coverage of Manoj Kumar's first bout in Rio.
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We will, of course, be back to cover that as well. Hope to see you here for that too! Till then, SK out \m/