Ireland's Michael Conlan has booked his place in the bantamweight final at the AIBA World Boxing Championships ©AIBA

Ireland’s Michael Conlan claimed his place in the bantamweight final at the International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Championships here on a day which saw three boxers each from Cuba, Russia and Uzbekistan advance to the gold medal matches.

Number three seed Conlan and well-matched Belarusian opponent Dzmitry Asanau played their part in one of many intriguing semi-final encounters this evening, with the Irishman’s greater mobility and swift counters taking him through to meet Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who beat India’s Shiva Thapa in a bruising but brilliant encounter.

"I’m really looking forward to the final now," said Conlan.

"The lads told me I needed to win the third round and I was confident.

"I kept my cool and held by patience, I didn’t panic.

"I just knew I had to keep to my game plan because he [Asanau] was going to fold - he’s only a young lad."

Meanwhile in the light flyweight division, Rogen Ladon’s remarkable campaign finally came to an end as the Filipino lost an incredibly tight opening contest with fellow southpaw Vasilii Egorov of Russia.

Egorov will now face Cuba’s Joahnys Argilagos in the final after he defeated Ukraine’s Dmytro Zamotaev.

Cuban middlweight Arlen Lopez (red) saw off the challenge of Egypt's Hosam Abdin (blue)
Cuban middlweight Arlen Lopez (red) saw off the challenge of Egypt's Hosam Abdin (blue) ©Hill+Knowlton Strategies

The middleweight battle between Cuba’s Arlen Lopez and Egypt’s Hosam Abdin was decided by the former’s more accurate punching, underlining his value to a team he only joined in 2014.

Lopez’s gold medal match opponent will be Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuziev, whose highly-anticipated bout against Ireland’s Michael O’Reilly lived up to its billing with incredible agility from both corners providing the standout match of the day.

In the heavyweight category, World Series of Boxing giant Erislandy Savon looked every bit the world beater against Azerbaijan’s Abdulkadir Abdullayev, but the Cuban will have his work cut out to defeat the statuesque Evgeny Tishchenko and claim gold on Wednesday (October 14).

The efficient Russian was ruthless against Ukrainian Gevorg Manukian in the final bout of the evening, and now has 48 hours to recover ahead of finals day.

Tishchenko’s compatriot Vitaly Dunaytsev upset the odds with a split decision victory against number one seeded light weltwerweight Yasniel Toledo Lopez of Cuba.

Standing between him and the gold medal is Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, who also caused a shock by defeating number two seed Wuttichai Masuk of Thailand in a repeat of this year’s final at the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.

The second round of World Championship semi-finals are scheduled to take place tomorrow as the flyweights, lightweights, welterweights, light heavyweights and super heavyweights all look to book their places in the gold medal matches.



Related stories
October 2015: ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad lauds AIBA counterpart C K Wu at 2015 World Boxing Championships
October 2015: China's Hu upsets the apple-cart once more to reach semi-finals of the AIBA World Boxing Championships
October 2015: AIBA boxers better prepared for the big-time than ever before, says two-time world champion Khan
October 2015: AIBA launches new smartphone app at 2015 World Boxing Championships
October 2015: Cuba's Cruz shows his resilience as quarter-final line-up at AIBA World Boxing Championships is confirmed