Hungary’s Zsolt Zuro and the French team dominated the Mostar International Youth Tournament
28 May 2019The 15thMostar International Youth Tournament was held in Bosnia & Herzegovina where 10 champions celebrated their titles after the finals. France topped the team rankings in the Mostar International Youth Tournament with their four gold medals but Hungary, Czech Republic, Montenegro and Serbia also claimed titles.
The first edition of the Mostar International Youth Tournament was held in 2001 and following a five years gap the competition was re-launched in 2018. The Mostar event was a preparation for the boxers before the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships which will be taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria on September 2-11.
Bout of the event
Hungary’s Zsolt Zuro claimed bronze medal in the 2018 EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Anapa where he proved fantastic performance. The Hungarian bantamweight (56kg) boxer, who began the sport at the age of 7, joined to the youth age group this January and quickly won their national selection event the Istvan Enekes Youth Memorial Tournament. Zuro had to meet in the final of the Mostar International Youth Tournament with Czech Republic’s best hope in this age group Kevin Godla and their fight delivered the most sensational one in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Zuro was a hard target for the strong Czech boxer and his speed became the difference between them which means the Hungarian won his first big international youth event.
Surprise of the event
Serbia’s Bojan Timotijevic is spending his first year among the youth boxers but in the semi-final of the Mostar International Youth Tournament he eliminated the top favourite of the light welterweight (64kg). The 17-year-old Serbian shocked Hungary’s AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships silver medallist Adrian Orban in the semi-finals and got a big scalp in Mostar. The Serbian boxer was too tired in the final against France’s Chadi Baraia and claimed silver medal in Mostar but he proved his strong future potential in our sport.
The Round-Up
Ibrahim Boukedim spent his first year among the youth boxers in 2018 and quickly achieved a bronze medal in the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships. The French boxer remained at the flyweight (52kg) but after several international successes he is one of the bests in Europe. Boukedim was quicker and landed more punches than Romania’s Marian Radu and won his next title this time in Mostar.
Montenegro’s Edin Alkovic was a key boxer also as a junior in the recent years winning a few international tournaments as well. Due the high number of participants the bantamweight (56kg) was divided into Group A and B in Mostar. The Hungarian Zuro won one of the groups while the 17-year-old Montenegro boxer claimed the gold as well following his narrow success over France’s Selim Bouaita.
France’s Enzo Grau shined in the Boxam Tournament in Spain this month winning the elite lightweight (60kg) in Castellon de la Plana. His younger brother Hugo Grau also attended in this category in Mostar and continued the family traditions claiming the title of the event after beating Czech Republic’s Narek Sachbazjan. His teammate Raphael Monny also impressed and dominated his light heavyweight (81kg) final against Montenegro’s Viktor Mihailovic.
Czech Republic’s Pavel Neveceral and Montenegro’s Petar Lijesevic both were top junior boxers in 2018 and the two young hopes had to meet each other in the final of the middleweight (75kg). The Czech boxer has chosen a perfect tactic against Lijesevic and won the gold medal in Mostar. The second Czech title was achieved by Milos Beranek at the welterweight (69kg) where he was slightly stronger than Serbia’s Almir Memic.
