National Boxing C'ship: Manoj Kumar clinches gold, Shiva Thapa stunned

Shiva Thapa's golden run at the Second Elite Men's National Boxing Championship came to an abrupt end as he suffered a shocking defeat against Services Sports Control Board's (SSCB) Manish Kaushik here on Monday.

The other favourites, Manoj Kumar (69kg) and Mandeep Jangra (75kg), didn't face any such mishaps, as they comfortably went on to win their respective bouts.

In the lightweight finals, former World Championship bronze medal winner Shiva Thapa began in his customary aggressive manner, connecting a few good punches. Manish Kaushik, however, turned it around in the second round, fighting with a lot more conviction.

Manish landed his hooks and uppercuts cleanly, shaking up the confident Assamese boxer. One of the hits gave Shiva a cut above the eye and the referee had to stop the contest momentarily.

After the forced break, Thapa was evidently not at his hundred percent. But he wasn't ready to give up yet.

The third and final round began neck and neck, as both boxers went for broke. Manish Kaushik's strategy of maintaining some distance and landing his jab and hook combination worked as he was declared the winner with a score of 4-1.

In the finals of the welterweight category, Manoj Kumar outclassed SSCB's Duryodhan Singh to take the gold. Railways Sports Promotion Board's (RSPB) Manoj dominated the first round, barely giving any scoring opportunity to his opponent.

But Duryodhan came back strongly in the second to land a few punches of his own. That was good enough to take the clash into the final round.

The SSCB continued in the same attacking mien but soon started running out of gas. The experienced Manoj took full advantage of that and went on to emerge victorious.

In the middleweight category, Mandeep Jangra simply steamrolled past Mizoram's Vanhlimpuia by 5-0.