Japan’s Ryomei Tanaka, pounded out a 3-1 decision over Hu Jianguan of China and advanced to the quarterfinals in the men’s flyweight match at the Tokyo Olympics on July 31 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.

The left-handed Tanaka started out fast in the first round with his right jabs, straight lefts and body shots. The 28-year-old Hu, also a southpaw, attempted confuse his 27-year-old opponent by sometimes switching to the orthodox style in the round.

After exchanging blows soon into the second round, the referee stopped the fight as Hu suffered a cut above the right eyelid, the back of the left ear and the forehead due apparently an accidental head butt.
While the match was resumed after a ringside doctor’s check, it was stopped again a few more times for the doctor to check Hu’s injured parts, which did not stop bleeding. The referee called off the bout shorter after, and the decision had to go to the five judges’ scorecards.

Three of the five judges all scored the bout 20-18 for Tanaka, while one judged had it 20-18 for Hu, the bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The fifth judge drew the match at 19-19.

Tanaka, an elder brother of pro boxing’s former three-division world champion Kosei Tanaka of SOUL BOX Hatanaka Boxing Gym, will next face Yuberjen Martinez of Colombia who captured the silver medal at the light flyweight in the 2016 Olympics.