Guyana suffered mixed fortunes when the International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Boxing Champion-ships got underway yesterday at the University of Illinois-Chicago, USA with Hendrick Pelswijk winning his bout and Clive Atwell losing.

According to reports, Pelswijk defeated his opponent from El Salvador by a 25-7 margin but Atwell lost 8-24 to his Mongolian opponent.

It is not clear when the third boxer Markember Pierre will be in action as the draws for the event was made only yesterday at 11am, but there is a possibility that he could be in action today.

Atwell it was reported allowed his opponent to build up points in the early stage of the fight which contributed to his defeat.

The championships which have attracted approximately 700 boxers, began Monday with a four-hour meeting of 195 national federations at a hotel in downtown Chicago followed by the opening ceremony at the Chicago Theatre which was attended by about 2000 persons including former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

The world championships are the first of three Olympic qualifiers. The top eight finishers in the light-flyweight through light-heavyweight divisions and the top four finishers in the super-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions will earn berths in the 2008 Beijing Games.