Hitting hard

PNG’s Thadius Katua lost his lightweight (60kg) quarterfinal bout to Welshman Michael McDonagh in their Commonwealth Games boxing competition at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast, last night.
The Carteret Islander had won his opening two fights, against rugged Nigerian Adeola Soyoye last Thursday via a split points decision and then stopped game Solomon Islander Henry Kia in two rounds on Monday to set up his meeting with McDonagh.
Katua’s first two opponents offered differing styles with Soyoye pressuring the 20-year-old over three hotly contested rounds. Katua got the nod from three of the five judges. Katua’s second bout in the round of 16 saw him overpower Kia, dropping him in the first round and again in the second frame to convince referee Slawomir Milczarek to wave off the bout.
Unfortunately, McDonagh was too classy for a willing Katua, who lost all three rounds.
Katua had been PNG’s only unbeaten fighter and was hoping to advance into the semifinals to guarantee PNG a bronze medal for the first time since Lynch Ipera’s win in the 1998 Games.