By Paul Osborne

Bulgaria's Nikolay Mutavski takes on Ireland's Thomas McCarthy in the heavyweight division on the opening day of the AIBA World Boxing ChampionshipsOctober 14 - The AIBA World Boxing Championships got underway in Almaty, Kazakhstan, today with the afternoon and evening sessions seeing the start of the flyweight and heavyweight weight categories.


American boxer Malik Jackson and his Angolan opponent Vivaldo Rodrigues opened the event, which featured the fighters competing without headguards for the first time in a major global Championships, with him making short work of his African counterpart, twice knocking him down and earning a technical knock out victory in the second round.

With vocal US support in the crowd cheering him it was a good start for the American team, trying to rebuild after London 2012 where the men's team failed to win a medal.

The heavyweight division opened with a surprise performance by Nigeria's Efetobor Apochi who won over the crowd with his victory over Turkish opponent Seyda Keser.

The African boxer's explosive flurries proved too much for the Turk, with Apochi dropping his larger opponent and opening a cut above his left eye.

What the Nigerian lacked in technique, he made up for with his heart and obvious raw power and could prove to be a tough opponent for any boxer in the coming competition.

The evening session saw a thrilling flyweight bout between Akhmedov Shahriyor of Tajikistan and Oleksandr Shepeliuk from Ukraine.

The slightly messy affair saw the two boxers tying up regularly in highly energetic grapples with lots of close shots being thrown.

The high intensity proved to be a well thought out tactical move by Shahriyor as the southpaw boxer from Tajikstan used his greater fitness to get the better of Shepeliuk, eventually winning the bout 3-0.

Belarus' Siarhei Loban takes on Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the flyweight division on the opening day of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in AlmatyBelarus' Siarhei Loban takes on Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the flyweight division on the opening day of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty

The biggest upset of the day fell on Astana Arlans Kazakhstan World Series Boxing (WSB) team member Ainar Karlson.

The Estonian Heavyweight was beaten by Brazilian; Juan Nogueira who's greatest success to date is a seventh place finish at the Pan-American Championships.

"It was a hard bout, he is a good boxer but our styles matched up well for me," said Nogueira.

Thai flyweight Chatchai Butdee impressed in his first bout of the competition beating Siarhei Loban of Belarus.

Butdee could be one to watch throughout the Championships, with his quick footwork and heavy hitting giving him a 3-0 win over his Belarusian opponent, who he dropped in the third round with a terrific body shot.

Another man to watch will be Roldan Boncales of the Philippines who managed his tricky opponent, Eddie Barillas of Guatemala extremely well. 

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