FIJI’S Aminiasi Saratibau has made it to the last 16 of the 2024 Boxing 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 24-year-old who hails from Tailevu was the surprise of the competition on Saturday stopping Juan Ortiz of Colombia on technical knockout midway through round two of the men’s 80kg bout.
Saratibau who attended Tilak High School was also part of Team Fiji at last year’s Pacific Games where he narrowly lost in the semifinal to Australia’s Callum Peters.
His opponent Ortiz was only a win away from getting a quota spot at the Olympic Games in Paris.
“The boxer from Columbia was one of the favourites and he is also an Olympian. He has 7-0 record as a pro boxer. So yeah, that was a big upset,” Fiji national boxing coach Cam Todd stated.
The agriculture student will be in the ring again today taking on Thomas Jeremiah from Trinidad and Tobago.
Another rising star Nehal Chand lost on points to Morrocco’s Essaadi Hamza in the men’s 51kg preliminary fight.
All five judges scored 20-17, 20-17, 20-17, 20-18, 20-18 in favour of Maza.
Despite the result, Chand remained optimistic as he tracks his progress to the dream of becoming a world champion one day.
Pacific Games gold medallist Jone Davule has been ruled out of the qualifiers on medical grounds.
Doctors ruled it unsafe for Davule to take the ring given that his injured jaw which underwent surgery a few months ago still needed more time to thoroughly heal.
