Kurbanau won the tightest bout at the Victory Day Tournament

Fourteen contests were held in the second competition day of the Victory Day Tournament in Gomel, Belarus. The host nation’s best boxer, European Games winner Dzmitry Asanau controlled his debuting bout in Gomel but his teammate, Yahor Kurbanau won the narrowest contest of the second day.

Boxers at the men’s flyweight (52kg), lightweight (63kg), welterweight (69kg), middleweight (75kg), light heavyweight (81kg) and super heavyweight (+91kg) featured in the second day of boxing in Gomel. The Belarusian city of Gomel is the host of the Victory Day Tournament to commemorate of the end of the World War II. Altogether 75 boxers are attending in the Victory Day Tournament including many of Europe’s stars.

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 the Belarus to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the Victory Day Tournament.

The bout of the day

Belarus’ Yahor Kurbanau competed already at the 2013 EUBC European Youth Boxing Championships in Rotterdam. Following a few poor years, he returned with a national title and proved strong developments. The 26-year-old boxer competes at the lightweight (63kg) in the Victory Day Tournament and met with a strong rival, Kazakhstan’s Yersultan Bulat. His Central Asian opponent arrived from the Aktau region and competed in several international events in Russia, Azerbaijan, and in Kazakhstan. Bulat opened the contest better and he had the stronger punches but Kurbanau accepted the rhythm of the bout and he was able to beat his Kazakh rival in the bout of the day.

The Round-Up

Belarus’ Dzmitry Asanau is the biggest name in the Victory Day Tournament who is the defending European Games winner and the host nation’s No.1. The AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist boxer used his long distance tactic against Dzmitry Dziashkevich who is his main national rival at the lightweight (63kg). Asanau danced through the whole ring and controlled all of the exchanges with his wonderful footwork and eliminated his compatriot in Gomel.

Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Youth Champion Darkhan Duisebay moved up to the welterweight (69kg) and the 20-year-old boxer immediately won the Istanbul Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament one and half month ago. The young Kazakh returned to the European continent and controlled his first contest against Belarus’ Stanislau Atroshchenka. The host nation’s best boxer in this category, Aliaksandr Radzionau also joined to the semi-finals as Duisebay.

Belarus’ Yauheni Lazerka started the first round well against Turkmenistan’s lone boxer in Gomel, Atadzhan Nurgeldiyev and proved in the opening exchanges that he knows more about boxing. The Belarusian super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer decided the contest in the third round and stopped his Turkmen opponent. His compatriot, Dzmitry Rutkevich dominated already the first round against Iraq’s Ali Idan and he finished their bout in the second when the referee stopped their meeting.