6 Mar 2020

Sport: 4 more Pacific boxers bow out in Olympic qualifier

12:06 pm on 6 March 2020

There's been no luck for Pacific Island boxers on day three of the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament in Jordan.

American Samoa light heavyweight Jolando Taala was no match for local hope Odai Alhindawi in the final bout of the morning session.

The Jordanian swept all three rounds to claim victory by unanimous decision. The fourth seeded Taala landed a couple of good short right hands early in the second round but had a point deducted for careless use of the head.

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Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Papua New Guinea lightweight John Ume's tournament was ended by Mongolian third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh in a unanimous decision.

Ume, 23, struggled to make inroads against the taller and more solid Asian Championships bronze medallist but did manage to land a series of punches to the head in the second round and had some success with the jab in the final round.

Samoan middleweight Jancen Poutoa was defeated unanimously by Fanat Kakhramonov of Uzbekistan.

The third seeded Samoan, who won gold at last year's Pacific Games, proved elusive at times but found himself on the wrong end of a series of left hooks.

Fellow Samoan Dee Ioapo also bowed out in a unanimous decision against Indian light heavyweight Sachin Kumar.

Dee Ioapo, Marion Faustino Ah Tong and Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali are all competing for Samoa at the Olympic boxing qualifiers in Jordan.

Dee Ioapo, Marion Faustino Ah Tong and Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali are all competing for Samoa at the Olympic boxing qualifiers in Jordan. Photo: Facebook/Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali