Erdemir, Galagan and Apresyan are the stars in the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament
22 August 2017The 19th edition of the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament was held in Berdichev, Ukraine where the local boxing fans could see top quality of contests. The best performances are delivered by Georgia’s Shakhil Allakhverdovi, Turkey’s AIBA Youth World Champion Tugrulhan Erdemir, Poland’s Eryk Apresyan and Ukraine’s Dmytro Galagan who are all experienced international boxers in spite of their young ages.
Five nations could win at least one gold medal in the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament: host Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Poland and Armenia. Altogether 84 boxers who were born in 1999 or in 2000 competed in the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament which was a strong preparation event before the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships which will be held in Turkey in October.
The competition was named after the Klichko brothers who are Ukraine’s national icons in our beloved combat sport. Vladimir was gold medallist in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games while Vitaliy was silver medallist in the Berlin 1995 AIBA World Boxing Championships before their amazing professional career.
The first gold medal of the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament was achieved by Georgia’s EUBC European Junior Champion Shakhil Allakhverdovi who was named as main favourite of the light flyweight (49kg) before the start of the competition. The 18-year-old Georgian won all of his three contests in Berdichev and defeated Ukraine’s Elmir Nabiyev by split decision for the title of the event. Georgia’s second gold medal was a surprise in the event, Artiom Yordanyan sensationally defeated Finland’s EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Krenar Aliu in the final of the heavyweight (91kg).
Armenia’s Pavlyukov Youth Memorial Tournament bronze medallist 17-year-old Artur Bazeyan delivered a small sensation in the final of the flyweight (52kg) where he defeated Georgia’s Abbas Agalarov Youth Tournament winner Guzha Mekvabishvili by unanimous decision. Turkey’s strong Azad Demirhan claimed only bronze medal in the 19th edition of the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheleznyak had to meet in the quarter-final with his tough teammate Artem Demianenko but he was able to win their key contest in Berdichev. The 18-year-old local bantamweight (56kg) boxer continued his winning path against Kazakhstan’s Zholdas Zhenisov and Armenia’s Guraf Sarkisyan as well which means he is near to be involved to the Ukrainian squad for the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships.
Turkey’s Tugrulhan Erdemir arrived to the venue of the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament as the defending AIBA Youth World Champion of the light welterweight (64kg) therefore his success in the final over Kazakhstan’s Junior National Champion Dilshat Nurym was not a surprise. Erdemir’s teammate, AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Necat Ekinci did revenge for a previous loss against Finland’s Asseme Nouali and won the title of the lightweight (60kg) in Berdichev.
Poland’s AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Eryk Apresyan is one of the best European youth talent at the welterweight (69kg). The Armenian-descent Polish youth boxer eliminated Ukraine’s Zakhar Stepanov in close semi-final and he was able to increase his performance in the final against Armenia’s Toni Galstyan.
Ukraine’s second gold medal in the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament was acquired by Dmytro Maydakov who defeated his teammate Pavlo Seleznov in the final of the middleweight (75kg). His compatriot Youth National Championships silver medallist Denys Levchenko eliminated Belarus’ Vadzim Andreyeu in the semi-final of the light heavyweight (81kg) and defeated Ukraine’s Andriy Isakov in a hectic final in Berdichev.
Dmytro Galagan, who claimed silver medal in the 18th edition of the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament one year ago, moved up to the super heavyweight (+91kg) in the recent months. The 18-year-old talent was impressive in the whole competition and dominated his gold medal bout against Danilo Dudar which was the repeat match of the final of the 2017 Ukrainian Youth National Championships.
