England’s Muhammad Ali and Ukraine’s Roman Litvinov had fantastic bouts in the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships on Day3

Sixty-six bouts were held in the second competition day and one more added on Day3 with 67 contests on the schedule at the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships today.

The host of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships is the city of Galati, Romania where boxers who were born in 2003 and in 2004 are eligible to attend in the event. The event will be holding fort both genders and after five preliminary and quarter-final days the semi-finals and finals will be closing the event.

The following 35 nations are taking part in the event with 400 boxers: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.

Bout of the day

Ukraine’s ISF Gymnasiade winner Roman Litvinov was named as gold medal contender before the start of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships. The Odessa-based boxer won the Danilchenko Prizes Junior Tournament in Kharkiv where he had a tight victory over Georgia’s Saba Tkebuchava in the final. The Ukrainian flyweight (50kg) boxer had to meet with his EUBC European Schoolboys Champion opponent once again but this time in the preliminary round. The Georgian boxer is spending his first year in the junior age group but he is competitive with the bests already. Litvinov used better tactic as last time and defeated his well-talented Georgian rival in Galati.

Surprise of the day

Hungary’s Rafael Buza was the Best Boxer of their Junior National Olympiad on April and started with a superb success over Ukraine’s Yaroslav Bhan in the second competition day. The 14-year-old Hungarian had to box again on Day3 and he was not enough fresh against Germany’s Enrico Kliesch. On paper Buza was the favourite but due his previous tough contest the German was fresh and controlled the first round. The Hungarian bantamweight (54kg) boxer came back to the match but he was not able to turn back their tight contest.

The Round-Up

In the opening bouts of the whole third competition day Romania’s Mihaela Cristina Ciobanu used an aggressive tactic in the first round against Poland’s Klaudia Topolewska and took the lead after two minutes of fight in Ring B. The Romanian featherweight (57kg) boxer landed tough punches in the second round and won the bout by RSC. In the first contest of Ring A Italy’s Michaela Caccamo was slightly better in the exchanges and eliminated Hungary’s Beata Varga in a hectic bout.

England’s Sacha Hickey earned bronze medal at the last edition of the EUBC European Confederation Women’s Junior Boxing Championships and she attends in Galati as favourite of the girl’s featherweight (57kg). The 16-year-old English talent was technically better than her Turkish opponent, Elif Yavuz and advanced to the quarter-finals winning all rounds. Her teammate Blu Bowers had a spectacular battle against Wales’ tall Romeo Costa but he was able to win their tactical fight at the boy’s light flyweight (48kg).

Moldova’s Mihail Taranu claimed bronze medal in the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships last October and he was able to keep his weight and attends in Galati at the light flyweight (48kg). The 16-year-old Moldovan launched rapid attacks in the first round against Israel’s Abd El Aziz Salem and continued his excellent footwork until the end of the final round. The verdict was unanimous decision to Taranu who advanced to the quarter-finals and remained his golden chance alive in Galati.

Ukraine’s Danilchenko Prizes Junior Tournament winner Dmytro Molodan is a sensational boxer at the light flyweight (48kg) who started strongly against Georgia’s Aikhan Kurbanov in Galati. The 16-year-old Ukrainian remained unbeaten since April 2018 following his impressive opening triumph. His teammate Deni Davtyan, who has been added to the travelling team only in the final moments, has done a great job against Belarus’ Uladzislau Valasiuk at the light bantamweight (52kg).

Ireland’s Michael Donoghue is another great prospect at the light flyweight (48kg) who dominated all of his recent fights during his road to the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships. The Irish boxer started his bout against Scotland’s James Sweeney in different rhythm and landed at least three-time more punches than his opponent. The Irish southpaw used his height and technical advantages well enough which combo was a clear dominancy for Donoghue.

The favourites of the light middleweight (70kg) proved strong performance in the third competition day in Galati. Firstly, Russia’s EUBC European Junior Champion Mikhail Usov defeated Hungary’s Kevin Lakatos in a spectacular contest before Ireland’s top boxer Eoghan Lavin demonstrated the strength of his jabs against Alperen Terzi. Bulgaria’s EUBC European Junior Champion William Cholov also moved up to this powerful category and started with a triumph against Belarus’ Uladzislau Tsikhanenka.

England’s newly crowned Junior National Champion at the pinweight (46kg) Frank Varey was energetic and his rhythm was superb in his opening bout against Moldova’s Marcel Ursu. His teammate Muhammad Ali has not only strong name but he impressed in his opening contest against Lithuania’s Robert Lavrinovic. The English flyweight (50kg) boxer used his powerful attacks to dominate his first fight in Galati and advanced to the quarter-finals as Varey.

Romania’s Eusebiu Iulian Tirzoman was quarter-finalist in the last edition of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Anapa and he repeated at least the same in Galati with his triumph over Dawid Litke at the flyweight (50kg). Romania’s best hope in the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Adrian Florin Preda used his excellent technique to control his bantamweight (54kg) bout against Israel’s Hamza Lawabna.