IN PROGRESS: Troy Isley (USA) vs. Vitali Bandarenka (Belarus)

David Tshama (Congo) had to work hard to rid himself of Wilfried Ntsengue (Cameroon). The Congolese middleweight managed a split decision victory, winning 29-28 on three cards to overrule two cards showing the same score for Ntsengue. 

Fanat Kakhramonov (Uzbekistan) was already well on his way to victory, only to settle for a truncated win after Giorgi Kharabadze (Georgia) was unable to continue due to a cut over his right eye in round two.

The bout went to the scorecards, with Kakhramonov winning 20-18 on all five cards. The Uzbek middleweight will next face Abilkhan Amankul (Kazakhstan) on Thursday.

Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan (China) outworked and outboxed Ashish Kumar (India) over three rounds to sail through to the Round of 16. All fives judges scored the contest 29-28 in favor of Tanglatihan, who will next face number-three seed Herbert Sousa (Brazil). 

With the win, China has now advanced all six team members—three men and three women—to the second round of competition. All three men won their opening round bouts, while all three women received a bye to the Round of 16 in their respective weight divisions. 

The opposite has come of India, who remains winless in Tokyo.

Younes Nemouchi (Algeria) spent most of his boxing life as a career alternate before entering the 2020 African Qualifying Tournament after a teammate fell ill. He has made the most of his journey and is now through to the Round of 16 after outclassing Kavuma Ssemujju (Uganda).

Nemouchi prevailed by scores of 30-27 on all five scorecards in a performance as dominant as suggested on the final cards. He will now go on to face Manny Pacquaio-promoted Filipino middleweight and number-four seed Eumir Marcial in the Round of 16 on Thursday, July 29. 

Francisco Verón (Argentina) had his way with Adam Chartoi (Sweden), putting on a boxing clinic to  move on to the next round. Verón won by scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in a bout that was as uncompetitive as suggested on the cards. 

Even more of a mismatch was the quickest stoppage of current competition, produced by Euri Cedeño (Dominican Republic). Two knockdowns suffered by ldric Sella (EOR - Equipe Olympique des Refugies) were enough to render a Referee Stops Contest (RSC) ruling at just 1:07 of round one.

Sella was issued a count in the opening seconds of the contest. He was down moments later, courtesy of a clean shot to the chin. Cedeño flirted with disqualification as his momentum carried him to throw and land a left hand while Sella was down as the referee was slow to intervene.

The right call was made in the end as Cedeño picks up the early win. He and Verón will meet in the Round of 16.

Andrej Csemek (Slovakia) scored an opening round knockdown and never looked back in a three-round majority decision win over Aaron Solomon Prince (Trinidad and Tobago). Scores were 30-27 on four cards, with judge Wulfren Oliveras (Colombia) scoring the contest even at 28-28—getting there by awarding Prince with a 10-8 score in round one where was issued a standing eight count and relatively dominated.

Csemek will next face Arman Darchinyan (Armenia), whose uncle is former two-division champion Vic Darchinyan. They meet July 29 in the Round of 16.

The first middleweight bout of the day was one to forget, aside from providing Japan with anxious moments as the scorecards were read. The hosting nation remained perfect in the end, as Yuito Moriwaki (Japan) claimed a split decision win over Shahin Mousavi (Iran).

Scores of 29-28 and 29-28 for Mousavi were overruled by tallies of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Moriwaki in a bout that featured plenty of headbutts and wrestling and little semblance of clean boxing. 

Even with homeland advantage, Moriwaki has a tough task ahead in the round of 16. The Japanese middleweight will next face Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak, the number-one seed who received an opening round bye. Their bout takes place Thursday, July 29.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox