Latvia’s Matvejs Prokudins stopped his favourite opponent in the first day of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships
20 November 2020Seventeen contests have been held in the first competition day at the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro which is the country’s first ever continental event in their history. Latvia’s Matvejs Prokudins won one of the best contests of the opening day stopping Sweden’s favourite Alexander Fredriksson.
EUBC President Mr. Franco Falcinelli officially asked the President of the Croatian Boxing Federation and EUBC Executive Committee member Mr. Bono Bosnjak to represent the European Boxing Confederation in Budva.
The following 22 nations are attending in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships Budva 2020: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
Boxers who were born in 2002 and in 2003 are eligible to attend in the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Budva. 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 Montenegro to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
Spain’s Oier Ibarreche joined to their junior national team in 2019 and he proved rapid developments in the recent one and half year. The 17-year-old Spaniard moved up to the bantamweight (56kg) following he spent the recent five months in training camp. Ibarreche was quicker than Moldova’s Vitalie Prisacaru and his hooks were successful in the first round. The Moldovan boxer returned to the bout in the second round following he received strong advices from his coaches in the first break. His tactical change and aggressive attacks were enough to turn back the exciting fight in Budva.
The surprise of the day
Sweden’s EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships bronze medallist Alexander Fredriksson arrived to Budva as one of the favourites of the bantamweight (56kg). The Swedish bantamweight (56kg) boxer met with Latvia’s Matvejs Prokudins on Day1 who was also born in 2003 as Fredriksson. Fredriksson defeated him in an international tournament in 2018 but Prokudins proved much better performance this time. The Latvian talent shocked his Swedish rival with tough punches and knocked down Fredriksson which moment decided their contest. The referee confirmed his RSC victory which meant Prokudins’ success was one of the surprises of the day in Budva.
The round-up
Romania’s Catalin Vicentiu and Armenia’s Vahag Galustyan opened the whole EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Budva. The Armenian southpaw looked quicker in the first round and landed nice left-handed punches from longer distance. The Romanian boxer tried to control the middle of the ring but he received high number of jabs from counter-attacks. The Armenian talent moved ahead more in the second round and advanced to the last 16 of the light welterweight (64kg) in Budva.
North Macedonia returned to the European boxing map after a few years of break and their strong developments paid off in the recent junior competitions. Their best hope Ardijan Azemi defeated Kazakh and other world class boxers as a junior and joined to the youth age group this January. The 17-year-old North Macedonian heavyweight (91kg) boxer was static in the first round but landed nice jabs against Poland’s Jakub Straszewski who also spends his first year among the youth hopes. Azemi increased his rhythm and controlled their fight in Budva, advancing to the next stage of the continental event.
Spain’s Sara Romana Puente met with Czech Republic’s Claudie Tothova in the first female bout of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. The Czech girl won the Julius Torma Youth Memorial Tournament this September and worked more on feet in the first round than her Spanish opponent. Tothova had the advantage in experiences and she was better in their exchanges and won the women’s bantamweight (54kg) bout.
Russia’s Liana Tarasian claimed gold medal at the 2019 EUBC European Women’s Junior Boxing Championships in Galati. The 17-year-old talent won the Russian Women’s Youth National Championships at the bantamweight (54kg) earlier this year. Tarasian tried to keep the best fighting range against Poland’s Karolina Ampulska who worked also well enough on feet. The Polish boxer was competitive for Tarasian but finally the Russian talent advanced to the next round of the event.
Poland’s 17-year-old Marcel Materla attended in the 2019 EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships and since that event he moved up to the bantamweight (56kg). The Polish boxer moved ahead carefully against Kosovo’s Luar Aliu and controlled the contest tactically. The Kosovan boxer had enough power only to his defense and landed low number of punches against the technician Polish talent therefore Materla won the contest in Budva.
