But Abdrakhmanov was more than happy to test a wide variety of tactics in order to size up his opponent and by the end of the second round he discovered that standing his ground and trading punches with Harutyunyan was as effective a strategy as any.

At the end of the gruelling and highly entertaining bout, it was the local favourite who claimed the victory and closed in on the title.

"I didn't box as well as normal today," said Harutyunyan..

"Not winning is hard of course, but next time I will be better.

"For now, the result is just motivation.

"On the positive side, this has been good for me overall.

"It was my first World Championships, so I've got some valuable experience in the ring and I made it through the first two preliminary bouts.

"So I'm not too disappointed."

Kazakhstan's Berik Abdrakhmanov (blue) battled through a tough encounter with Germany's Robert Harutyunyan to get through the Quarter Finals



Ireland's Paddy Barnes secured an emphatic win over his tough Kenyan opponent Simon Nzioki at flyweight.

The 26-year-old from Belfast shocked the arena when he connected with a perfectly timed left hook to knock the Kenyan down with only a minute gone of the first round.

Nzioki almost ran into the blow which see's Barnes progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.

"I've been mixing my training up and trying different things in the build-up to Rio, but I'm feeling strong", said Barnes, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. 

"Becoming world champion is more important to me than the Olympics."

Welsh flyweight Andrew Selby danced his way to the quarter-finals with a win over Cuba's Gerardo Tejeria.

Selby, a two-time European champion, looked light on his feet as he bounced around the ring with Tejeriat happy to take the centre and invite him in.

Selby was proving a highly evasive target with Tejeria unable to pin him down to land a punch.

But Selby became increasingly confident as the third round progressed and with it increased his flamboyant style.

The former British Lionheart began exhibiting some of his fancy footwork and showboating and, despite being caught with a few shots, managed to dance rings around his opponent and into the next round.

"I said after my last fight that I didn't box that well but I was happy with that one," said Selby.

"As the tournament goes on, I'll be getting better and better.

"He is a very good boxer but in the end I made him look ordinary."

In response to criticism of his antics, he explained: "I don't dance around to be an arrogant person; I do it because it frustrates the boxer and forces them to make mistakes.

"Then we are friends afterwards.

"That's the way I've always been."

Confident Welshman Andrew Selby danced his way to the Quarter Finals with a victory over Cuban boxer Gerardo Tejeria


The super heavyweight division saw Germany's Erik Pfeifer take on Romania's Mihai Nistor .

Pfeifer claimed a tight victory in a fight that could have gone either way.

A look at the judge's scorecards after the bout proved this point with each judge scoring the contest 28:29 in favour of the German.

"That was really tough and my opponent fought very hard, so I'm happy to have gone through", said Pfeifer.

"He's a tough guy.

"He always comes forward and works up close and really grinds.

"Fighting him is quite uncomfortable"

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