Aira win away from bronze

MANILA, Philippines — With two wins under her belt, lightflyweight Aira Villegas is a victory away from a bronze medal at the IBA 12th World Women’s Championships in Istanbul and the moment of truth comes in her three-round quarterfinal fight against Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu. The fight was scheduled at 7 last night (Turkey time) and midnight (Manila time). Five wins will bag the gold for Villegas, the Philippines’ sole entry in the competition that drew 310 entries from 73 countries. A bronze carries a cash prize of $25,000 while a silver has a $50,000 bonus and a gold, $100,000.

Last Sunday, Villegas booked a seat in the quarters with a 5-0 win over former IBO world flyweight pro boxer Nina Radovanovic of Serbia. Judges Kevin Hope of the US, Algeria’s Lazizi Athmen and Indonesia’s Muhammad Arisa Putra Pohan scored it 30-27 while judges Veronika Szucs of Hungary and Guatemala’s Emerson Arreaga saw it 29-28. If Villegas overcomes Cakiroglu, she will face the winner of the match between Spain’s Fernandez Fuentes and Argentina’s Milagros Flores in the semis on Wednesday.

“Nina was aggressive and tried to bull her way through Aira’s defense,” said Picson. “But Aira countered with left straights and right crosses. Even in close quarters, Aira had the advantage. It will be tough against Cakiroglu because she’s a counterpuncher like Aira. We’ll change it up a bit and make Cakiroglu chase Aira and we’ll see what happens. It will be tactical and we expect a close fight.”

Picson said IBA’s Russian president Umar Kremlev was re-elected by acclamation after he rejected a call for balloting. A nomination unit earlier disqualified presidential candidate Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands and four Board bets from the US, New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark. Kremlev chastised Van der Vorst for organizing a 20-nation Common Cause Alliance which questioned the conduct of the Russian’s administration. Van der Vorst has raised the alleged injustice to the Council of Arbitration for Sport. IOC has expressed indignation over Kremlev’s rule which is supported by Russian company Gazprom and struck out boxing from the 2028 LA Olympics.