SPORTS
Tyson-inspired Frenchman struts his stuff
Baku, June 18, AZERTAC
Middleweight Christian Mbilli Assomo-Hallier showed exactly why he is considered a huge Boxing talent at the Baku 2015 Games on Thursday.
The young Frenchman idolises former USA world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, and spectators could see it in his fight against Victor Carapcevschii of Moldova at Crystal Hall.
The 20-year-old stalked his opponent across the ring, showering him with blows from all angles before winning by unanimous decision.
Assomo-Hallier, who could have pursued a career in football, said: "I love sport. It's more important than money."
In the light welterweight (64kg) category, Slovenia's Edin Sejdinovic provided little challenge to home favourite Collazo Sotomayor.
The nephew of the Cuban High Jump legend Javier Sotomayor did not even have to work up a sweat. One judge scored the bout 30-24 and two marked it 30-26.
Sotomayor, who moved to live in Azerbaijan two years ago, acknowledged the influence of the legend Muhammad Ali, whose famous shuffle he imitated.
He said: "In Cuba you see a lot of this, all the kids growing up try to do the Ali shuffle. But you have to follow it up by hitting like an elephant."
Georgian super heavyweight (+91kg) Mikheil Bakhtidze won his opening fight against Ukrainian Vladyslav Sirenko and will be back in the ring on Friday to face the strong favourite Mahammadrasul Majidov of Azerbaijan.