Kristian Jubani to fight for gold at Youth Olympics

Ireland’s Kristian Jubani produced a classy display to reach the final of the 50kg division at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal.

The 17-year-old beat Mexico’s Alan Jesus Ocampo Cano in the semi-finals by unanimous decision, winning every round on all five judges’ scorecards and forcing his opponent to take two standing counts.

The first round began cagily as both fighters adjusted to the increased quality compared to what they had both encountered in the quarter-finals.

Jubani gained an early foothold, landing straight punches to the body and finding a home for his southpaw jab before starting to open up with straight punches to the Mexican fighter’s head.

Ocampo Cano struggled with Jubani’s unorthodox hands-down style, switching stances halfway through the round and failing to land any telling shots.

Jubani’s dominance continued in the second round as Ocampo Cano attempted to change the flow of the fight by charging forward. But the Crumlin BC fighter caught him with a clean one-two halfway through the round, forcing the referee to issue a standing count. Another left-hander from the Dubliner seconds later saw the referee begin the count again.

Though Jubani couldn’t find another big punch to finish the contest, all five judges scored the second round 10-8 in his favour, rather than the usual 10-9, such was his command of the bout.

In the final round, Jubani simply had to survive to win, but he instead chose to again outbox his opponent to earn a perfect unanimous decision.

Jubani will fight for the gold medal on Thursday afternoon against the winner of the other semi-final between India’s Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam and Colombia’s Izzon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo.