Denmark’s 15-year-old Elias Idrissi is among the 52 guaranteed men medallists in the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships
13 October 2018The exciting men’s quarter-finals were held in the fifth competition day of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Anapa, Russia. The winners advanced to the last four and remained their chance alive to get the titles in Anapa where Denmark’s 15-year-old Elias Idrissi is also among the guaranteed medallists.
Anapa hosted the event previously in 2013 and in 2014 and after four years the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships returned to the Russian city. This new edition of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships is the first ever competition when the women and the men boxers can attend together within one event.
Bulgaria’s EUBC European Confederation Schoolboys Boxing Championships silver medallist Radoslav Rosenov had height disadvantage against Hungary’s Balint Kapuvari and tried to reduce the fighting range to catch his opponent. Both pinweight (46kg) talents had great footwork and their quarter-final bout was a spectacular one in Anapa. The Hungarian attacked more in spite of his height advantage and the Bulgarian counter-punches decided their contest. Following Rosenov’s success Serbia’s Omer Ajetovic defeated Romania’s Mihai Vaduva in the same category and he is also a guaranteed medallist in Anapa.
England’s Joe McGrail has got strong connection to boxing his elder brother Peter is the defending EUBC European Champion. The Liverpool-based boxer, who will be turning to 16 next week, ruled the middle of the ring against Romania’s Eusebiu Iulian Tirzoman in their light flyweight (48kg) quarter-final. McGrail has done smart boxing in Anapa against his Romanian opponent and bowed Tirzoman out of his way.
Denmark’s EUBC European Confederation Schoolboys Boxing Championships bronze medallist Elias Idrissi won the Boxam Junior Tournament this May but since then he moved up two categories. The 15-year-olf Danish flyweight (50kg) talent tried to dictate the tempo against Armenia’s Ruslan Aslikyan who also proved strong defensive skills in the first round. Idrissi landed more punches than his Armenian opponent and after 2017 he took his second EUBC medal during his career.
“I was really nervous before my fight because I saw my Armenian opponent against a German talent in the previous round and he looked strong. My trainers’ tactic was keeping the Armenian long today. After the first round we realized that Aslikyan is not enough good today and I knew I can win the fight. I will be meeting with a Georgian boxer in the semi-finals and my team thinks that I can beat him after the rest day,” said Denmark’s Elias Idrissi short after his quarter-final.
Bulgaria’s EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Yasen Radev arrived to Anapa as favourite of the light bantamweight (52kg). The Bulgarian boxer started strongly against Romania’s Nations Junior Cup winner Mustafa Aurel Curt and the referee counted his neighbouring opponent still in the first round. After that key moment Radev was confident in the bout and eliminated his Romanian rival getting a guaranteed medal in the competition.
Hungary’s most experienced junior boxer Zsolt Zuro, who began boxing at the age of 6, was a hard target for Belarus’ Aliaksandr Laurushchyk in the first round of their bantamweight (54kg) quarter-final. The 16-year-old Hungarian finished the opening round strongly and took the lead on the scorecards. Zuro was confident in the second and still energetic in the final minutes against his Belarusian rival. The most experienced Hungarian junior talent dominated the last round and celebrated his triumph after the final gong.
England’s three-time National Champion Junaid Mohammad Bostan and Russia’s EUBC European Schoolboys Champion 15-year-old Maksim Shumov had to meet in the quarter-final of the featherweight (57kg) in Anapa. The one-year older English talent used his longer reach well in the first round and dictated the rhythm of their bout which was an early final. Shumov also increased his tempo and after the last gong his hand was raised.
England’s Adam Azim started his boxing career at the age of 6 and after 10 years of experiences in our sport the 16-year-old talent tried to keep his focus against Scotland’s Kyle Kerr who attended already in three EUBC European Championships since 2015. The English lightweight (60kg) boxer, whose elder brother is member of their youth national team, felt the tempo better than his Scottish rival and secured his place in the last four in Anapa. Azim will be meeting in the semi-finals with Hungary’s 15-year-old Ferenc Peter Samu who dominated his quarter-final against Poland’s Dawid Szmajda.
Bulgaria’s Emirdzhan Mehmed claimed silver medal in the last edition of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Albena and he used up all of his experiences to beat Armenia’s Vahagn Manukyan at the light welterweight (63kg). The Bulgarian boxer was effective today and advanced to the semi-finals of the category where his next rival will be Georgia’s Lado Lomaia. Russia’s Dmitriy Zakharov and England’s George Bance also remained their chances alive to win the weight class.
Russia’s Igor Kuznetsov won their Junior National Championships at the welterweight (66kg) which was a surprise a few months ago. The 16-year-old Russian was motivated to show his skills against Azerbaijan’s Turkesh Mustafayev in the quarter-final and landed powerful punches in the first round. Following his tough combinations the referee counted Mustafayev therefore the Azeri boxer started the second round aggressively but Kuznetsov finished their bout with lethal shots and won it by RSC.
Russia’s EUBC European Schoolboys Champion Timur Avdoyan won the Bornemissza Junior Memorial Tournament this March and he was named as the main favourite for the gold medal at the heavyweight (+80kg). The 16-year-old Russian landed strong punches against F.Y.R. of Macedonia’s Nations Junior Cup silver medallist Ardijan Azemi. The Macedonian boxer survived the dangerous moments but the bout was won by the powerful Russian by unanimous decision. His main rival Hungary’s Levente Hunor Kiss also advanced to the semi-finals with powerful performance.
