MANILA, Philippines - Ian Clark Bautista and Jade Bornea essayed imposing victories to barge into quarterfinal round and atone for the unexpected setback by top bet Felix Marcial in the World Youth Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia Tuesday.
Bautista, 18, disposed of shifty World Junior Championships bronze medalist Ham Sangmyeong of Korea with an impressive 20-12 score as the Negros Occidental find came out better in their fierce exchanges, delivering 4-5 punch combinations of hooks, uppercuts and straights that impressed the judges and the crowd.
He took the first round, 7-4, pulled away in the second, 14-8, en route to the eight-point victory in their flyweight bouth.
The 17-year-old Bornea also dished out a superb outing against another more experienced rival, Tinko Banabakov of Bulgaria. Unaware of the sterling credentials of his foe who is both Bulgarian Youth and Under 22 champ aside from winning in Turkey and Serbia, Bornea used speed and in-and-out moves to baffle his rival and went on to dominate the fight with scores of 6-3, 11-7 and finally, 19-10.
But Marcial dropped a sorry 7-10 decision to defense-oriented Michal Zatorsky of Slovakia who had his hands up over his face the whole time while flicking short hooks that caught the attention of the judges.