FarangFarang Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Kaew won all three rounds: 2-1, 3-2 and 5-3. A loud crowd of Thai supporters were at the arena to cheer him on, chanting "Kaew, Kaew, Kaew" in the moments before the official decision was announced. Kaew, 32, faces his last chance for Olympic glory at London, and has made the best of his chances so far. [ATTACH=CONFIG]119378[/ATTACH] LONDON : Kaew Pongprayoon, the last Thai boxer with a gold medal chance, easily defeated rugged Ecuadoran Carlos Quipo early Sunday to advance to the light flyweight quarter-finals. He scored a one-sided victory over Mohamed Flissi of Egypt in his first bout, winning by a score of 19-11. Kaew next faces Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria on Thursday at 3:15am. A win on Thursday will assure Kaew of a bronze medal. It will take another win after that next Sunday morning to win the gold. Against the 22-year-old Quipo, the Thai came out in full defensive mode, picking his places carefully to try to get inside with decisive punches. Quipo, the Panamerican Games champion last year, was clearly frustrated by his inability to penetrate Kaew's defences. He was warned frequently by the female Hungarian referee Veronika Szucs to stop grabbing and trying to bend Kaew over. All three rounds were active, but with the emphasis on defence, the scores were low. Kaew scored just two clear punches in the first round and three in the second - one more than the Ecuadoran opponent in each stanza. Quipo went for broke in the third round but again was simply unable to break through Kaew's hands-and-elbows guard to score, either to the head or the body. Kaew hung back, letting Quipo take the lead and then countering with, mostly, body punches. The 5-3 third-round score exactly doubled the scoring punches of the first two rounds. Kaew's next opponent, Aleksandrov, 27, barely survived his qualification fight on Sunday, defeating the second seed Shin Jong-Hun of South Korea 15-14. The Bulgarian placed second in the European qualification tournament, losing to Ferhat Pehlivan of Turkey, who could be Kaew's next opponent if he gets by Aleksandrov. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/306054/boxer-kaew-pongprayoon-wins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarangFarang Posted August 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 [ATTACH=CONFIG]119418[/ATTACH] And now, for gold LONDON : Kaew Pongprayoon of Kamphaeng Phet dispatched Russian opponent David Ayrapetyan on Friday night (Thailand time) to put himself in the running to win Thailand's only gold medal of the London Olympics. Virtually the entire nation watched Kaew fight a crafty, careful fight against Ayrapetyan, winning by a single point against the clearly frustrated Russian. Hundreds of people are expected to gather at Kaew's home in Kamphaeng Phet and his wife's house in Ayutthaya to watch the final on TV. Kaew will also be cheered by millions of fans who will be glued to their TV early Sunday morning. As he has done since the start of the Games, Kaew came out cautiously on Friday evening, battling Ayrapetyan to a 3-3 draw in the first round, then opening up to launch body shots and take the lead 6-5 in the second. He shut down again in the third, boxing defensively and denying Ayrapetyan any chance to land counting shots, and held on for a clear, well-deserved win. He now faces top-ranked Chinese boxer Zou Shiming in the final at 2:30 Sunday morning, Thailand time. "I am not afraid of him although I have lost to him twice," said Kaew, from Kamphaeng Phet. "Fighting him is always tough, not because of his skills but his dirty tactics." Kaew claimed the top-seeded Chinese often grabs his opponents and ducks low to avoid punches. In their previous meeting at the 2011 world championships in Azerbaijan, Kaew was well beaten 14-8 in the quarter-finals. Zou went on to win his third world title. "I am ready for the challenge. I have a 50-50 chance to win," said Kaew. "I will do my best for all Thais. I am not feeling nervous because it is going to be my last fight of the tournament." Kaew aims to become the fifth Thai boxer to win a gold medal since Somluck Kamsing became the first in 1996 at Atlanta. Other gold medallists in boxing were Wijan Ponlid at Sydney (2000), Manus Boonjumnong at Athens (2004), and Somjit Jongjohor at the last Games in Beijing. He is just the third Thai medallist at the London Olympics, and the only male. Pimsiri Sirikaew won silver in weightlifting and Chanatip Sonkham won bronze in taekwondo. Zou "The Fox" Shiming, who barely edged Irishman Paddy Barnes in a 15-15 countback in the semi-final, is a rangy, highly experienced fighter who came into the Olympic tournament seeded as the Number One light flyweight. He earned his nickname for his ability to stay just outside his opponent's reach, then darting in to score a point. Kaew has fought his way into the gold-medal match with virtually identical tactics. The question is whether the 5cm (2-inch) height advantage will matter for the Shanghai boxer. The two match up well otherwise. Zou is 31, Kaew 32. Zou has fought in more tournaments, Kaew has extensive experience in individual bouts. Zou began boxing in 1997 after converting from wushu, and his first fight for China was nine years ago - at the World Championships in Bangkok. After the 2007 World Championships in the US, Zou was named China's "most valuable boxer". He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games in Athens, and then won China's first boxing gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, where he served as captain of the country's boxing team. He also was 2010 Asian Games champion - all at the 49kg light flyweight division. For Kaew, a gold medal could be worth about 100 million baht in rewards from the government and private companies. Thailand Boxing Association president Boonlert Kaewprasit has said a boxing gold medallist would get about 50 million baht from association sponsors. He has promised to push for Kaew, an army sergeant, to become a commissioned officer if he wins the top prize. And Gen Boonlert also has promised to resign from the TBA if Thailand fails to win a gold - meaning he has a huge personal stake in the outcome of Sunday morning's fight. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/307093/and-now-for-gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin_2 Posted August 11, 2012 Report Share Posted August 11, 2012 Silver for Thailand: It was a close fight. I think Kaew had it won, but I'm not Olympic judge. He definitely won the third round in my opinion, yet the judges gave it to Zou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKYWARRIOR Posted August 12, 2012 Report Share Posted August 12, 2012 It was a close fight. I think Kaew had it won, but I'm not Olympic judge. Another Olympic boxing moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarangFarang Posted August 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2012 Silver for Thailand:It was a close fight. I think Kaew had it won, but I'm not Olympic judge. He definitely won the third round in my opinion, yet the judges gave it to Zou. Missed it but good job on Kaew's part. At least he knows he did his best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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