Thailand’s entry Amnat Ruenroeng was doing well initially when he beat Argentina’s Ignacio Perrin to move over to the next round, but he was eased out when Sofiane Oumiha of Fance battered him to submission in the third round of their fight following a second round knockdown.
Ruenroeng made it to the Rio Olympics via the AIBA and World Series Boxing qualifying events earlier in Venezuela where pro fighters were given the opportunity to participate without going to the usual elimination process.
It was Ruenroeng’s second attempt to win a medal for his country in the Olympics. His first was in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The former IBF flyweight champion joins two other pro boxers competing in the Rio Olympics who failed to advance to the medal rounds.
Early in the boxing competition, professional boxer Hassan N’Dam N’jikam of Cameroon lost to his host country opponent Michel Borges in a unanimous decision.
N’jikam wasn’t happy with the decision saying he thought he was the better fighter.
“I’m very disappointed about this,” N’Dam said. “He’s a good fighter, but I think I’m better than him. I took too much time to come into the fight, but I lost the fight,” N’jikam said after the fight.
The other pro fighter competing in the Rio Olympics is Carmine Tommasone of Italy, who like Ruenroeng also won his first fight against Mexican Linolfo Delgado but ended up losing in his second try leading up to the medal round against Cuban Lazaro Alvarez.
At least three prominent professional boxers who earlier expressed intention to compete in the Rio Olympics were reportedly prevailed upon by their handlers from joining the completion. They include Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Wladimir Klitschko.
