The Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament began with the preliminaries in Vilnius

The traditional Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament began with the preliminaries in the capital city of Lithuania in Vilnius. In the first competition day 23 bouts were held in Vilnius and the winners advanced to the quarter-finals in the first big youth event in 2017. In the current edition 99 boxers from 18 countries are fighting for the medals in Vilnius.

The competition was named after Danas Pozniakas who is Lithuania’s national boxing hero who claimed gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games and also crowned three-times in the history of the European Boxing Championships.

France’s Enzo Grau was bronze medallist in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in St. Petersburg last November but since then he moved up to the bantamweight (56kg). The French boxer was excellent in the first round against Russia’s Gasan Magomedov and took the lead after three minutes of fight. The French southpaw tried to use his height advantage and his tactic worked well against his Russian rival.

Ukraine’s Taras Bondarchuk reached top results as a junior boxer in the recent two years and he joined to the youth age group this January. The Ukrainian boxer was too strong for Latvia’s Konstantins Lebedevs and the referee counted the Baltic talent in the first round. Bondarchuk, who was born in 2000, launched lethal punches in the second round therefore the referee confirmed his RSC success in their bantamweight (56kg) bout.

Hungary’s Istvan Enekes Youth Memorial Tournament winner Istvan Bundovics attended in his first ever international competition but he was not nervous in the first round against Poland’s Dominik Harwankowski. The Hungarian bantamweight (56kg) boxer found the best fighting distance quickly in the first round but his Polish opponent was able to change his tactic after that and turned back their narrow contest.

Turkey’s Necat Ekinci was bronze medallist in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in St. Petersburg and arrived to Vilnius as one of the gold medal contender of the lightweight (60kg). The Turkish boxer was not enough shape in the first round against France’s EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships bronze medallist 17-year-old Jeremie Dupetitmagneux who reached Ekinci with his effective jabs. The Turkish boxer stepped into the gas and proved excellent performance in the second and third rounds which were enough to beat his talented French opponent.

Italy’s southpaw Christian Gasparri arrived from a boxing family as his elder brother Stefano is also a national team member. The Italian lightweight (60kg) boxer attacked well enough from the first seconds against Denmark’s Ali Aziz Al-Tamimi and his efforts delivered for him a place in the quarter-finals.

Ukraine’s Maksim Boryghpolets was quarter-finalist in the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships in St. Petersburg in 2015 and had more international experiences than Hungary’s southpaw Armando Rostas. The Ukrainian lightweight (60kg) boxer was quicker in the first round than his Hungarian opponent and won the bout by unanimous decision. Finland’s Asseme Nouali also proved top performance in this weight class in Vilnius where he was too strong for Latvia’s Sergejs Hodjusins.

Israel’s EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Ahmad Shtiwi is the titleholder in the Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament. The 17-year-old top Israeli boxer moved up to the light welterweight (64kg) and started aggressively against Ukraine’s Mykyta Alistratov. The referee counted the Ukrainian in the third round and after the final bell Shtiwi’s hand was raised.

Hungary’s EUBC European Schoolboys Champion Tibor Barbosu won the Istvan Enekes Youth Memorial Tournament last month and arrived to Vilnius as one of the favourite of the light welterweight (64kg). The 16-year-old Hungarian dominated the first round against Latvia’s Marcis Grundulis and continued his strong performance with his jabs and uppercuts in the second. The final verdict was unanimous decision to Barbosu who will now meet with Czech Republic’s Petr Novak who eliminated Austria’s Esad Avdic.

Denmark’s Oliver Mollenberg proved strong performance in his debuting contest against Turkey’s Ibrahim Gezer in Vilnius. The 17-year-old Danish light welterweight (64kg) boxer launched lethal punches in the second round and finished that period strongly. Mollenberg proved nice things also in the third round and his success was a result of a top performance. In the same category Italy’s Armando Casamonica eliminated another Turkish talent Yusup Gokcek who did not find the best fighting distance.

Lithuania’s Lukas Songinas had to meet in his opening middleweight (75kg) contest with his teammate Darius Vaisnarovic but he was able to reduce the fighting distance and won the bout. Belarus’ Aliaksandr Filipovich also proved strong performance in this category against Poland’s Mateusz Szewczyk which bout was one of the narrowest this day.

France’s Moreno Fendero is a native talent in our sport who has got excellent physical condition in spite of the fact he will be turning to 18 only later this year. The French boxer launched amazing punches in his opening middleweight (75kg) bout against Estonia’s lone athlete in the Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament Eduard Piirisild and won it by unanimous decision in Vilnius.

Finland’s EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Krenar Aliu had to meet with Austria’s younger talent Ahmed Hagag in his debuting match at the heavyweight (91kg). The Finnish boxer had great jabs in the opening round but his Austrian opponent also adopted the level of the bout. Aliu used his international experiences to win his difficult contest in Vilnius today.

Croatia’s Josip Biletic was gold medallist in the last edition of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Kaposvar, Hungary in 2016 and joined to the youth age group this January. The Croatian super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer is a big prospect in our sport and started well against Czech Republic’s Pavel Jan. Biletic worked well on feet in the whole bout and dominated his first contest in Vilnius.

In featured image: Christian Gasparri (ITA)