Flyweight boxer Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand is confident he would be able to win the Beijing Games semifinal against Italy’s Vincenzo Picardi who he had defeated earlier at the world championship.

Thai boxer Somjit Jongjohor has beat Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan in the Beijing Games quarterfinal on August 20. Somjit said his coaches had accurately predicted that Yunusov would divert from his usual style and fight more defensively than his earlier two matches against the Thai fighter.

Somjit said he decided to make an aggressive move when the fight was stalled in the first round but became more comfortable and confident after he received the first point. The Thai boxer won by an 8-1 score, earning himself a spot in the semifinal against Vincenzo Picardi of Italy.

The fight of Somjit and Picardi will be the second match on Friday August 22 at about 12.45 p.m. in the afternoon Thai time. Somjit has defeated Picardi earlier when the two fought against each other in the semifinal of the world championship at Chicago.

Somjit said he is confident of winning the fight although the Italian boxer has improved his skills. According to Somjit, Picardi is a diligent fighter who likes to swarm his opponent with flurries of punches, but the Thai boxer is not pressured as he said the Italian’s strikes are rarely accurate.

The Thai boxer said his coaches have studied the Italian opponent well and has already prepared him a plan. He said he called his mother and wife earlier today to ask for morale supports. He said his mother gave him a blessing, while his wife “ordered” him to fight with caution and bring home the victory.

While Somjit was giving the interview to the reporters, Picardi happened to pass by. The two fighters greeted each other and posed together for the photographers. The Italian was seen with an injury inside his lips, which had to constantly treated with ice by his trainer.

Picardi’s coach, Francesco Damiani, told the Thai reporters that he considered Somjit a great champion with talents and wits. To the surprise of the reporters, the Italian coach said he believes Somjit would likely win the fight and eventually claim the gold medal. He said the match would be a difficult task for Pichardi as he already had a decisive loss to Somjit in the world championship.

However, Damiani promises he would prepare Pichardi well and would not allow Somjit an easy win like the game in Chicago.

General Taweep Jantararoj, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand (ABAT), said he was not concerned with the semifinal match as Somjit has the upper hand and has proved to be fight with more caution and versatility than Pichardi. He said Somjit would have more than 80% chances to win and pass to the final unless something went wrong.

The ABAT chief said he was not afraid of any of Somjit’s potential opponent in the final but he would prefer to see Somjit fight with Russia’s Georgy Balakshin rather than Cuba’s Andris Laffita Hernandez. He said the ambidextrous Balakshin is an aggressive fighter, who would give Somjit a better advantage than the defensive Cuban.

Referring to his earlier claim of bias of the Olympic boxing judges, the ABAT chief said he hoped his complaint would be heard by the International Amateur Boxing Association President Wu Ching-Kuo.

General Taweep said he saw a different team of judges in the recent matches which he believed would be good for the Thai boxers.
     

News: Siamsport