Doha: Russian and Cuban boxers dominate on the first day of the finals of the AIBA World Boxing Championships winning two categories each.

Yesterday at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena Johanys Blue Argilagos and Arlen Lopez both of Cuba topped in their respective weight categories.

Matching the performance of the Cubans in the ring were the Russians with Evgeny Tishchenko and Vitaly Unaytsev.

Michael Conlan of Ireland complete the list of five new champions crowned in Qatar.

At the start of the Championships there were 258 boxers from 74 countries all dreaming of being in the ring for the finals all carrying a distant dream of winning the gold medal for their countries and to qualify for the Olympics.

Yesterday that dream became reality for five of the finest pugilists in the world.

The first gold-medal bout in the light flyweight category Argilagos of Cuba defeating Russia’s Vasilii Egorov.

The 18-year-old Cuban came flying onto Egorov in an opening maneuver to which the Russian never managed to respond. The light flyweight bout ended in emphatic fashion with the Cuban winning on unanimous decision.

“I’m thrilled to be crowned world champion. That was my goal all year and now I want to go on and become Olympic champion in Brazil next year” a proud and confident Argilagos said.

Next up was Conlan the first of the two Irishmen left in the competition who stepped into the ring for the bantamweight final against his 20-year-old Uzbek opponent Murodjan Akhmadaliev.

The Irish fans had come out in force for this gold-medal bout and got to see Conlan in exceptional form. Despite a late scare when he almost got knocked out by Akhmadaliev in the third round he held on to secure his first-ever world title on unanimous decision.

The third Uzbek in final bouts Bektemir Melikuziev had to overcome Cuba’s Lopez to bring the gold medal back to Tashkent. The middle weight bout was a showpiece of the incredible athleticism on show here in Doha as the pair kept relentlessly jabbing each other throughout. As the bell rang for the last time though it was Lopez who could raise his arms in glory as Cuba cashed in the second gold medal in quick succession.

The last bout of an incredible day was the highly anticipated heavyweight final between Erislandy Savon from Cuba and another member of a strong Russian team here in Doha Tishchenko who claimed the silver-medal in the last World Championships.

Cuba was chasing their third gold medal of the evening but Tishchenko was a man on a mission and secured his first gold medal in the World Championships after winning convincingly on unanimous decision. This was his country’s second gold medal so far and one for the memory books for the Russian heavyweight boxer.

“This is a huge achievement for me to become world champion is incredible. The Cuban team is so strong and I knew it was going to be a tough fight. It could have gone either way” Tishchenko said.

Earlier there were box-offs to determine who would win the bronze medal in the bantam light welter and middle weight category. The first bout was between India’s Shiva Thapa and Dzmitry Asanau from Belarus. Despite early promise from Thapa it ended in a unanimous win for the Belarussian who is now confirmed for the Olympics.

Egypt’s reigning African champion Hosam Abdin won 3:0 against Michael O’Reilly from Ireland to book a ticket to Rio. Thailand’s Wuttichai Masuk won on walkover ahead of Cuba’s Yasniel Toledo Lopez to qualify for Olympics.

Tomorrow is the last and final day of the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships. Another world-famous boxing legend is expected to be ringside for the bouts namely Vitaly Klitschko.

In addition Nissan will give out four brand new cars. The boxing action on offer starting from 7pm

The Peninsula