Flissi has looked great in this tournament so far and continued to impress today as he really took the fight to his opponent.

Rodriguez found it hard to find his range in the first round and, despite landing a couple of great shots towards the end, found himself struggling to keep pace with Flissi.

This trend continued throughout the bout and it was Flissi who eventually progressed to the final of the competition.

The Costa Rican will not be too disheartened by the result and will go back to his country with his head held high and his country's first ever World Championship medal - a bronze - hanging proudly around his neck.

In the other light flyweight semi-final Kazakhstan's Birzhan Zhakypov took on tough Cuban Yosbany Veitia Soto.

The two southpaws looked extremely focused as they stepped into the ring but it was Zhakypov who seemed to find his stride early on in the bout, connecting with some nice jabs and long range hooks as Soto tried his best to close in.

Zhakypov continued to hit the mark throughout, with Soto becoming increasingly more frustrated as the fight progressed.

He knew going into the third that he was facing an uphill struggle and looked completely dejected as the bell rang for the final time and his opponents arm was raised in victory.

Zhakypov will be hoping for some strong support from local fans as he moves into tomorrow's final against Flissi.

Birzhan Zhakypov (red) proved too good for Yosbany Veitia Soto


In the heavyweight division, Italy's Clemente Russo was back in action against Azerbaijan's Teymur Mammadov.

Russo looked back to his best in this bout, connecting with some great overhand left and rights to keep the pressure on his taller opponent.

Notably, Russo was boxing with his hands up in this fight, a first for the tournament, which showed the obvious respect he has for Mammadov and his tremendous reach.

In the end, it was the Russo's experience and fast feet that proved decisive as he battled his way to victory and a place in the final, where he will face off against Russia's Evgeny Tishchenko.

"I feel good because Mammadov only really landed one good punch to my chest and then he stopped," Russo said.

Former British Lionheart Jason Quigley delighted the travelling Irish support as he beat Russia's Artem Chebotarev at middleweight to book his place in tomorrow's final.

The Irishman began the bout by keeping Chebotarev at distance, punching and moving as he went.

The Russian tried his best to keep the fight close and draw the Irishman into a slugfest and must have received a huge shock when Quigley duly complied.

A bigger shock will have come when Quigley proved to be the better of the two at this new tactic leaving Chebotarev to scratch his head and resign to the bronze medal.

Quigley will move into the final against Kazakh boxer Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, who progressed with a walk over after England's Anthony Fowler had to withdraw with a broken hand.

Jason Quigley shows his delight after beating Artem Chebotarev at middleweight


Light welterweight's Merey Akshalov will be another boxer from host nation Kazakhstan to fight in the finals as he beat defending World Champion Éverton Lopez of Brazil.

Akshalov will take some beating in the final as he dispatched the reigning champion in fine style, looking comfortable at all ranges and adapting his tactics to breeze past Lopez.

His opponent, Cuba's Yasnier Toledo López, will have to pull something spectacular out of the bag to stop the local from taking gold in tomorrow's final.

In the super heavyweight division, Azerbaijan's Magomedrasul Medzhidov took on Italian veteran Roberto Cammarelle, a repeat of the London 2012 Olympics semi-final.

After losing the encounter last year, Medzhidov was eager to balance the history books and made a good start of it when he knocked Cammarelle to the canvas two minutes in to the first round.

The stunned Italian took a standing eight count for the blow and quickly raised his hands to avoid any further punishment.

His bad habits resurfaced shortly after however and as his guard dropped he was nailed again by a heavy blow that left him scrambling for safety.

Cammarelle did have a late resurgence at the end of the round but had a lot of work to do in the remaining two rounds if he was to make it through to the final.

His comeback was aided slightly when Medzhidov was deducted a point for leading with his head one too many times, however this wasn't enough for the Italian who had to settle for the bronze medal.

Medzhidov will face local favourite Ivan Dychko in the final.

Italian superstar Roberto Cammarelle had to settle for bronze after losing to Magomedrasul Medzhidov of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals



Brazil's Robson Conceição celebrated his birthday in style as he beat Italian Domenico Valentino at lightweight to book his place in the final.

Valentino continued his remarkable record of medalling at each World Championships since Mianyang in 2005 as he took another bronze here in Almaty.

The two boxers seemed to reject the defensive aspects of their game, instead favouring an all out attack approach to the bout.

Despite obviously feeling the effects of this tactic, as they slumped off to their respective corners at the end of each round, neither boxer thought to change style as they jumped up after the bell to continue their frenzied onslaughts.

The decisive moment of the bout came in the final round when Valentino lost an all important point for leading with his head one time too many.

Valentino seemed to recognise the importance of his mistake as he walked over to his corner to be consoled as the final bell rang, with Conceição raising his arms in triumph.

It was indeed Conceição who took the victory and he now faces Cuba's Lázaro Álvarez Estrada in the final.

"It was a hard fight for me because the guy had a lot of experience," said Conceição.

"He was already a world champion [Milan 2009].

"But I was very well prepared and I would like to thank the Boxing Federation in Brazil and my team, because they helped me get this result.

"The bracket I had was the worst in the tournament, but despite that fact I managed to come this far, so I'm happy."

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