#APB Melian and Njangiru both earn important Bantamweight victories in Guiyang
07 June 2015
China’s Guiyang International Conference & Exhibition Centre was the venue for the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) bantamweight (56 kg) Cycle I Round 1 matches this weekend, with four excellent contests impressing the watching fans around the world.
The home fans in attendance were left disappointed after the main event however, as Chinese star and two-time Asian Games silver medalist Jiawei Zhang lost to Kenya’s Benson Gicharu Njangiru via a second round technical decision.
Njangiru will now meet Alberto Melian in Cycle I Round 2 after the Argentine boxer defeated reigning AIBA World Champion Javid Chalabiyev in Guiyang.
Although Chalabiyev won the first round of their contest, Melian recovered well and began to impress from the second frame onwards.
When on form, Melian is one of the best boxers to watch in APB as he has a very exciting style which is also incredibly disciplined, and his sharp jabs and solid movement caused constant chaos for Chalabiyev who was unable to utilise his own tactics in the match.
The decorate Azeri athlete did claim some success in the latter stages of the bout, but the rounds that Melian had already accumulated proved to be too much, and the South American star claimed the victory on two scorecards, with the third judge considering the contest a draw.
Two other bantamweight bouts took place this weekend, as Germany’s Hakan Erseker defeated Venezuela’s Yoni Blanco, while Sangmyeong Ham outclassed Finland’s Matti Koota.
Match schedule Saturday:
- Yoni BLANCO (ECU) vs Hakan ERSEKER (GER) W.O.
- Sangmyeong HAM (KOR) TKO R.7 vs Matti KOOTA (FIN)
Match schedule Sunday:
- Alberto MELIAN (ARG)W.P. (77:75/76:76/75:77) vs Javid CHALABIYEV (AZE)
- Jiawei ZHANG (CHN) vs Benson NJANGIRU (KEN) T.D. R2
