Fresno boxer Marc Castro wins gold at worlds in Russia

Marc Castro is now a two-time junior world champion.

The Fresno amateur boxer and Sunnyside High senior on Saturday defeated Samatali Toltayev of Kazakhstan by decision to secure gold in the bantamweight division at the AIBA Youth World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Castro, 17, becomes the first back-to-back youth and junior AIBA world champion in U.S. history. Last year, he was the lone American to win gold at the AIBA Junior Worlds.

“I feel great to accomplish my goal of becoming world champion once again,” Castro said. “It means the world since my hard work is paying off. It hasn’t really sunk in that I am a two-time world champ.”

Castro’s route to gold included defeating Uzbekistan’s Shunkor Abdurasulov by unanimous decision in the semifinal; England’s Charles Frankham with a disqualification in the third round of competition; Nikita Piskunov of Russia by decision and a unanimous decision on all five judges cards against Georgia’s Badalyan Vahe.

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Fresno boxer Marc Castro wins gold at worlds in Russia."