Girleanu, Abduraimov and Lozano amazed in the first part of the semi-finals in Sofia

The first part of the semi-finals was held in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria where 25 bouts scheduled today. Spain’s Rafael Lozano Serrano, Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov and Romania’s Daniel Girleanu amazed the experts in the semi-finals of the competition.

The re-scheduled competition moved to Bulgaria’ capital where all of the requirements, experiences and professional organizational team are waiting for the participants. Boxers who were born in 2004 and in 2005 are eligible to attend in the EUBC Junior European Confederation Boxing Championships in Sofia.

The following nations are attending in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships Sofia 2020: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.

The European Boxing Confederation’s medical and safety rules are very strict in the whole competition as it was followed in Montenegro. The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks and all of the health controls are the responsibility of the local organizers in Bulgaria to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC Junior European Confederation Boxing Championships.

The bout of the day

Spain’s Rafael Lozano Munoz claimed silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and bronze in Atlanta four years earlier. His son, Rafael Lozano Serrano is a super talented 16-year-old southpaw who amazed in the first round against Bulgaria’s Lyuboslav Metodiev. The Spanish talent was a hard target for the Bulgarian in the first round of their light flyweight (48kg) semi-final. Lozano was smaller but he used his counter-attacking style against the tall Bulgarian who received high number of punches. The Spanish boxer was too quick for Metodiev today which means Rafael Lozano Serrano followed the family traditions.

The surprise of the day

Romania’s Pavel Ionut and Saly Palapiuc lost their semi-finals in the evening session of the sixth competition day but following that Daniel Girleanu exceeded the expectations and advanced to the final of the bantamweight (54kg). The 15-year-old Romanian had a tough rival, Russia’s Anatoliy Popov who has got excellent technical skills. Girleanu, whose elder brother is already a Tokyo Olympian, used his aggressive tactic to beat the Russian causing the top surprise of the day.

The Round-up

Russia’s Renata Mingalimova defeated Ukraine’s Yelizaveta Voyevudko in the final of the 2018 EUBC European Schoolgirls Boxing Championships. The 15-year-old Russian met in the semi-finals of the pinweight (46kg) with her well-known rival in a re-match in Sofia. Mingalimova and Voyevudko opened the whole competition day and have done another remarkable battle. The Russian southpaw was confident and she knew the best tactical answers to Voyevudko’s attacks therefore Mingalimova can box for the title of the smallest weight category.

Romania’s Ana Romantov is not their most experienced junior yet but her skills are impressive and she became finalist in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Sofia. The Romanian light flyweight (48kg) talent was not only competitive for Bulgaria’s Dilyara Ahmedova but she dominated the semi-final. Romantov was taller and knew more about boxing than Ahmedova which she demonstrated from the opening round. The Romanian landed several jabs which were effective in their semi-final therefore Romantov earned a place in the final.

Spain’s Iratxe Val Del Valle faced in the semi-finals of the women’s flyweight (50kg) with Bulgaria’s Rumyana Aleksandrova who began her boxing career only one and half year ago but she is a native talent in our sport. The Bulgarian boxer tried to keep the best fighting distance in the first round and landed a few good punches. The Spaniard finished the second round with strict jabs and Del Valle’s left-handed jabs arrived in time but their close contest was won by Aleksandrova. The Bulgarian will be meeting with Russia’s Daria Kostkina in the final of the weight category following her opponent eliminated Ukraine’s Alina Maliar.

Serbia’s highest ranked female junior boxer Sara Skapik has been eliminated in the previous stage but their younger talent Sara Cirkovic impressed in the first day of the semi-finals. The Serbian boxer started the first round better than Ukraine’s Izabel Gaborets but her opponent came back to the match with strong punches in the second. Cirkovic re-newed in the third round and her effective attacks delivered for her a place in the final of the light bantamweight (52kg). Her fellow Dragana Jovanovic also became finalist in Sofia after stopping Moldova’s lone female boxer Irina Ciubova in the semi-finals of the bantamweight (54kg).

Sweden’s southpaw Sipel Duna began boxing in 2015 at the age of 11 and after her international experiences she opened the first round against Ukraine’s Tetiana Dovhal well enough. The Swedish talent was supported from the ringside by their former boxer Lina Skoghagen and tried to play her own game against the taller Ukrainian. Duna landed several strong punches from closer distance in the first and second rounds and in spite of Dovhal’s great finish, she was able to advance to the final of the event.

Russia’s Andrei Peglivanian moved down to the flyweight (50kg) before the start of the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. The 16-year-old Russian used his longer reach in the first round against Croatia’s Tomislav Letinic and stopped his opponent’s attacks. The experienced Letinic tried to reduce the fighting distance and he had a few nice left-handed hooks in the third round but Peglivanian won their tactical contest in Sofia. The Russian will be meeting for the gold medal with Ukraine’s Maksym Rudyk who stopped Serbia’s tall Vukasin Tepic in the second round.

Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov had strong experiences in the schoolboys and junior age groups and arrived to Sofia as one of the gold medal favourites of the bantamweight (54kg). The 16-year-old Ukrainian was in different level than Serbia’s Darko Djukanovic already in the first round. The small Ukrainian had fantastic punches in the opening two minutes and following his impressive shots the referee counted the Serbian in the second round. Abduraimov’s left-handed hooks were tough for Djukanovic therefore the Ukrainian won their semi-final by large margin of differences.