Dubai: The UAE's Khadoum Al Ka'abi and Lorena Klinj of Holland were the biggest winners on the final night of the World Arab Boxing Championships that concluded at the Dubai Tennis Stadium late on Sunday.
Al Ka'abi won on a unanimous decision against Abdullah Mohsin of Yemen in the 65kg amateur category, while Dutch challenger Klinj upset defending champion Kiel Holtz of Colombia in the women's middleweight 66kg category.
"This has been an amazing two nights of boxing bringing together the best of Arab and international talent. This is definitely not the end, it's only the beginning for us," Hadi Sidheri, President, FIBA, told Gulf News.
The biggest upset was that of Colombian Holtz after the referee had to stop the fight in the sixth round following a deep gash over her left eye while trying to head-butt her Dutch opponent.
"These unfortunate things happen in a fight, but we had a strategy and we stuck to it. Even if the fight had gone the full distance of eight rounds, we would have still won," said Mousid Akhamrane, trainer/manager for Klinj.
The 23-year-old Klinj was thrilled at the prospects that lay before her as the new champion in the middleweight category. "This is just the beginning for me. It's only the start. I have challenged myself and proved to myself that I can take on the best in the business," Klinj said after accepting her belt from former world champion Danny Williams.
"She made a mistake and she had to be punished," the Dutch challenger added after being asked about the unfortunate gash above Holtz's eye.
Another big winner on the night was the home-bred 28-year-old Al Za'abi as he out-boxed his Yemeni opponent to win a unanimous decision from the three judges.
Surinam's two-time world champion Dolly McBean and Turkey's Hatice Ozyurt both retained their titles, with the African girl knocking out Dutch challenger Raquel Adams in the fifth round of their featherweight fight, while Ozyurt kept her superlight 63kg belt with a unanimous decision against Moroccan Ghizlan Al Aazri.
In the night's other fights, Morocco's Khadija Al Dabali used her leg kick to perfection to dethrone two-time world champion Natalie Maurel of France in the women's flyweight 50kg category, while Tunisia's Haifa Ouersighni made youth count in her favour as she disposed of the more experienced Noura Ali of Egypt in their flyweight 61kg amateur category.
The two-day boxing event is organised by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) in coordination with international boxing body FIBA and Golden Star Media.
