Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan put India’s faltering campaign at the World Boxing Championships back on track by advancing to the second round of the light weight category with a thumping win against Venezuela’s Angel Rodrigues in Milan, Italy.
The Indian out-punched his rival 10-4 to bring some cheers in the Indian camp, which had been left stunned by three early exits.
The Haryana boxer opened a 3-1 lead in the first round before blanking his opponent in the second round to extend it to 7-1.
Rodrigues tried to claw his way back in the final round, finishing 3-3, but it was too little and too late by then.
Jai will take on the Irish team’s co-captain Eric Donovan in the second round on Friday.
Donovan defeated Bakhodir Karimov of Kirgyzstan 13-4 in his championship opener.
So far, three Indians — Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (51kg), Jitender Kumar (54kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) — exited the event after losing their opening round bouts.
While Suranjoy and Manoj lost by a point, Jitender was disqualified after being handed three warnings for three different offences.
