London, Aug 10 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Satoshi Shimizu of Japan and Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez lost their respective semifinals in the men’s 56kg boxing competition to claim Olympic bronze medals here.
Shimizu succumbed to Britain’s Luke Campbell, a 2011 world silver medallist who dominated from the start for a resounding 20-11 victory.
The British southpaw came out strong, mixing up his combinations well and registering several stinging lefts to go 5-2 up in round one.
Shimizu belied his crude style to fare better in the second round but was still overpowered by Campbell and went down 6-11.
Campbell landed some big one-twos in the third round to rock his opponent, who started to clam up with fatigue.
He cruised to an inevitable victory and a gold medal match-up against Ireland’s John Joe Nevin.
Nevin, a former world bronze medallist, beat the 2011 World Champion Alvarez, 19-14 in the previous bout.
Nevin came under sustained pressure from Alvarez but managed to stay ahead on points with his greater activity around the ring.
The Irishman won the first round 5-3, the second 7-6 and the third 7-5 to secure a spot in the final. The gold medal match is Saturday.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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