Iain weaves magic at Commonwealth boxing

A boxer in Akhil’s mould,Bruno keeps his guard low,inviting the opponents to hit him. Having seen the footages of Weaver’s previous bout against the Indian,he appeared to have decided against it,covering his face with the gloves right from the offset. It didn’t matter in the end,as the Mauritian met the same fate,in fact it was even worse,losing by a humiliating 12-3 margin.

Bruno was the first to score a point,but Weaver hit back soon with a flurry of right jabs to make it 2-1 at the end of Round One.

“We all know that Julie plays mostly with his guard down but today he was playing with his guard up and I made use of that in hitting straight punches in the counterattack,” Weaver said after the bout.

He scored three more points in the second round while conceding just one,and in the third,toyed with his tiring opponent,throwing punches in the air,to add seven more to his aggregate.

“My feet were moving well and Julie was little tired in the last round. All in all,it was a good bout,” he added.

Two shock wins,one might say,in what is his first competition at the senior level,but those who have seen Weaver’s career graph must have expected just that. The former world junior champion,Weaver is seen as one of medal prospects at the 2012 Olympics in London.

“Iain is the best prospect I’ve seen for a while,” remarks Frankie Gavin,the only British boxer to have won a gold at the world amateur boxing championships. “I’m sure he will win a medal at the 2012 Olympics.”

Early training

With a boxer father egging him on,Weaver first put on the gloves when he was six. His first competitive fight was at the age of 11 and by the time he was 18,he had a Commonwealth Youth Games gold — in Pune — to his credit. Despite his fond memories of the country,Weaver almost decided against making his latest trip.

“I was scared to come here after the terror threats and all. I thought somebody would shoot me at the airport. But then I wanted to have a feel of the competition and know what to expect at the Commonwealth Games in October. It was a relief to see so many policemen here for the security,” he said.

Asked if he had taken some time off to see the Capital,Weaver joked: “I haven’t seen the city as yet. What if I go out and somebody kidnaps me.” Having seen him bully top boxers at the competition,however,his fears seem somewhat misplaced.