Asian Games 2023: Japan's Okazawa Sewon fells Aslanbek Shymbergenov in clash of men's 71kg titans for Paris 2024 boxing quota
In a bout between past and present world champions, the Japanese Tokyo Olympian narrowly beats his Kazakhstani opponent 3-2 to secure a berth at next year's Games in Paris.
Boxing
Japanese southpaw Okazawa Sewon edged Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan in a meeting of the former and reigning men’s 71 kg world champions to secure a Paris 2024 boxing quota at the Asian Games 2023 on Tuesday (3 October).
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Okazawa, the 2021 world champion, won a 3-2 split decision in the semi-finals over Shymbergenov who owns both the world and Asian belts.
Okazawa is the first Japanese boxer at these Games to win a spot in Paris. The finalists from each weight class in the men’s boxing earn a place at the Olympic Games.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
The 27-year-old Okazawa vowed to redeem himself next summer after losing in the second round at Tokyo 2020 to eventual gold medallist Roniel Iglesias.
Asked by Olympics.com if his goal was to top the podium in Paris, Okazawa said, "Of course. I have to win it and I’m going to win it. I want it real bad. The moment I won today, it felt so, so good.
"I love a drink but this tastes better than any drink. I love my sushi but this tastes better than any sushi I have ever had.
"This is what I put in the work for. I’m going to win gold in Paris and I want to share that joy with so many people."
Okazawa was outpointed by his opponent through the first two rounds but won the judges' blessing in the third by a narrow margin. He admitted neither he nor anyone in his corner knew who would come out ahead.
The secret to his succces? Having fun, Okazawa said.
"I had no idea who’d win. I thought it was a great fight but I had no clue. I asked the coach and even he didn’t know. But no matter the outcome, I left everything out there. Win or lose, I didn’t care," he said.
"Didn’t I seem to be having more fun than Aslanbek? I think that made a difference on the judges in the end. But no matter how badly I get booed, I’m not going to change my style of having the most fun.
"I want to enjoy the fight more than anyone."
In the other semi-final, Kan Chia Wei of Chinese Taipei defeated Bayramdurdy Nurmuhammedov of Turkmenistan 4-1 to obtain his Olympic quota for next summer.
The evening session saw Chinese Taipei’s Lai Chu En and Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia earn their quota from the men’s 63.5kg semi-finals.
In the final four of the +92kg, Kazakhstan’s Kamshybek Kunkabayev outclassed Narender Berwal of India while Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan floored the People’s Republic of China’s Danabieke Bayikewuzi 39 seconds into the first round to secure their spots for Paris.
A pair of women also got the job done in the 75kg semi-finals, from which Lovlina Borgohain of India and China’s Li Qian secured their quota after beating Thailand’s Maneekon Baison and Luu Diem Quynh of Vietnam, respectively.
Boxing's first gold medal in Hangzhou went to the host country, Wu Yu uanimously beating Thai fighter Raksat Chuthamat for the women's 50kg title.
The last bout on the cards produced the day’s second gold from the men’s 92kg as Tajikistan’s Davlat Boltaev edged crowd favourite Han Xuezhen 3-2. Han and Boltaev had grabbed their Olympic quota a day earlier.