Cuban boxer eliminates Elly Ajowi from Tokyo Olympics
Kenya's Elly Ajowi Ochola (red) and Cuba's Julio La Cruz fight during their men's heavy (81-91kg) preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on July 27, 2021.
What you need to know:
- La Cruz registered a 5:0 win in the contest.
- Julio la Cruz has been very successful in the light heavyweight division where he won four successive world championships gold medals.
Four-time world light heavyweight champion Julio La Cruz of Cuba made light work of Kenya's Elly Ajowi in their Tokyo Olympics heavyweight (81kg-91kg) bout on Tuesday.
La Cruz registered a 5:0 win in the contest.
Kenya's Elly Ajowi Ochola (red) and Cuba's Julio La Cruz fight during their men's heavy (81-91kg) preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on July 27, 2021.
Julio la Cruz has been very successful in the light heavyweight division where he won four successive world championships gold medals.
In the ring at the Kokugikan Arena, Ajowi stood no chance against three-time world light-heavyweight champion Julio Cesar la Cruz who has moved up to the heavyweight division.
The Cuban’s exquisite stagecraft outwitted Ajowi who was lucky to last the distance.
“He kept moving and this caught me very much off-guard,” Ajowi confessed.
“He’s a good fighter and confused me with his moving around, but I thank my corner for correcting me whenever I went wrong… It was a good fight, but the opponent was too good.”
Kenya’s coach Musa Benjamin said his boxer perhaps gave too much respect for the Cuban.
“Ajowi could have fought better. He knew that la Cruz is a great fighter and perhaps showed respected reputation and didn’t focus well on the fight,” Musa said.
“At times he thought he couldn’t handle the Cuban.
“But going forward, we need more fights against these boxers, especially from Cuba and eastern Europe whose boxing culture comes in handy at these championships.
“Ajowi was perhaps too tense because of the medals he heard the Cuban had won.”
Earlier on at the same Arena, Brazil's Abner Teixeira stunned Great Britain's Cheavon Clarke in their last 16 round to advance to the quarterfinals in a thrilling bout.
The Great Britain man, who is the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, was given the first round before the Brazilian did enough to convince four of the five judges to give him the second.
Ajowi's elimination follows that of Nick Okoth on Saturday in the round of 32, and Christine Ongare's ouster on Monday in the Tokyo Games. The only remaining Kenyan boxer is Elizabeth Akinyi, and will fight Alcinda Helena Panguana of Mozambique in her welterweight bout later Tuesday.
Kenya's Elly Ajowi Ochola (red) and Cuba's Julio La Cruz fight during their men's heavy (81-91kg) preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on July 27, 2021.
Okoth also lost to Mongolia’s Tsenedbaatar Erdenebat on Saturday in a split point decision while Ongare was eliminated by Phillipines' Irish Magno.
Ajowi (heavyweight) and Akinyi (welterweight) were given byes into the second round.
