Light flyweight Josie Gabuco suffered an upset in the 2021 Asian Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships, bowing to Uzbekistan’s Gulasal Sultonalieva via a majority decision, 29-28×4, 28-29, Thursday evening at the Grand Ballroom of the Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai, UAE.
Gabuco, who won the last edition of the tournament, kept toe-to-toe with a game Sultonalieva. However, a crucial third round that saw the Uzbek make a late rally proved to be the decider.
It will be a big Friday night for three Filipino pugilists in the desert.
Light flyweight Mark Lester Durens will try to advance to the finals as he faces Indonesia’s Kornelis Kwangu Langu while bantamweight Junmilardo Ogayre looks to shock top seed Uzbekistan’s Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov in a semis bout.
Finally, Marcial will step into the ring as he takes on Uzbekistan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov in the middleweight semis.
