Bonix, Juan win golds in 19th President's Cup

SANUR, Bali (JP): Indonesian boxers Bonix Saweho and Juan Saparipan won two gold medals for the country at the 19th President's Cup international amateur boxing tournament on Thursday.

Albert Papilaya from Indonesia lost in the third round against R. Hosseini of Iran when the referee decided to stop the contest.

Mexico, which used the event as an Olympic Games warm-up, proved its supremacy in the sport with three of its boxers winning gold.

Bonix, competing in the finweight division, forced the referee to stop the contest in the third round of his fight against B Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka, who took home silver. Bronze medals went to Denny Hitarihum of Indonesia and Chanthasone of Laos.

Right from the bell, Bonix launched an aggressive combination of uppercuts and straights to Wickramasinghe's face. The Sri Lankan seemed powerless in what was a one-sided bout, and the referee quickly put an end to it.

"I didn't expect much from the tournament. With the victory, the North Sulawesi governor will provide a scholarship for me to finish college," said Bonix, who could not hide his tears.

Compatriot Juan also won thanks to the referee stopping the bout in the third round, beating Yuuji Kimura of Japan in the bantamweight class. Kimura won silver, while Justin Kane of Australia and Rico Morino of the Philippines jointly took bronze.

Roared on by 3,000 supporters, Juan threw killer combinations of hooks and uppercuts at the Japanese boxer, who was unable to avoid them.

Juan's hooks made contact with Kimura's jaw in the second and third round, and the referee decided he had seen enough.

The 23-year-old Juan was rewarded by being picked as the best boxer at the event.

"He is the best and I believe he deserves the award," said Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina) secretary-general Didiet Soedijoto.

Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo, chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI) Wismoyo Arismunandar, Pertina chairman Sang Nyoman Suwisma and president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) Anwar Choudry witnessed the finals.

Mexican Romero Liborio beat Harry Tanamor of the Philippines 18-11 in the light flyweight division.

Compatriot Francisco contributed another gold for Mexico in the flyweight division after beating Sergeui Poulkevich of Russia 23-14.

Mexico's third gold was presented by Cristian Bajarano in the featherweight division after defeating Joel Barriga 17-5.

Iranian Rahimi MR won the flyweight division after beating Somjut Jongjohor of Thailand 6-4. (Bona Beding)