NEWSLETTER by EUBC President Franco Falcinelli September 2021

Dear boxing friends,

we start the autumn season full of great boxing events that testify that AIBA and EUBC keep their commitments and their incessant activity to ensure the proper conduct of competitions and the crown the work and expectations of boxers and National Federations. Our thanks go to the National Federations who, even during the severe pandemic, have never stopped assisting their boxers and promoting their organization.

Europe always appears to be the most active and rich in events and competitions on a continental and global level.

AIBA awarded another world event to Turkey: the 12th edition of the Women’s World Championships 2021.

Turkish Boxing Federation, led with skill and wisdom by President Eyup Gozgec, deserved this recognition for the great contribution it has made to the development of women’s boxing and for the prestigious results achieved by Turkish girls in the rings all over the world.

The Military World Championships -CISM- in Moscow have just ended with the resounding success of the Russian military and now we are approaching the start dates of two major events: the European Youth Championship in Budva (Montenegro) and the Elite Men’s World Championship in Belgrade (Serbia).

The World Military Boxing Championships organized by CISM is an international Boxing event with a rich history that is very important to strengthen the ties of our sport with the military and paramilitary bodies that devote great support to Olympic boxing in every Country in the world.

The Championships in Moscow have however highlighted that the role of AIBA remains irreplaceable to make the event more consistent with our technical regulations.

From 15 to 23 of October the city of Budva will host the European Youth Championships 2021. President Alexander Klemenko who recently took over the reins of the Montenegro  Boxing Association  has set up a LOC that will guarantee a successful organization of the event. Participation is numerically significant both for the number of nations and participating athletes: 38 Countries and around 380 boxers.

          As always, AIBA with the support of Gazprom will be a valuable support for the success of the event that reaffirms the will of the EUBC to ensure the necessary attention to the development of youth boxing in our continent. AIBA will award the medalists with coveted prize money  to foster the continuity and commitment of young talents towards more prestigious sporting goals.

 In 2021 the Countries of the former Yugoslavia were at the center of other important boxing events and also  the magnificent “International Boxing Day” demonstrated the vitality and renewed commitment   to enhance the development of a sport that has seen its athletes become myths of sport worldwide.

         Mate Parlov is certainly the most famous Yugoslavian boxer. He disputeded 323 matches with 310 victories.

In 1972 he won Olympic gold in Munich and  won the world title at the first World Championships held in Havana in 1974, beating the Russian Oleg Karatayev in the final who had eliminated Leon Spinks in the semifinal.

But the list of famous Yugoslav boxers is very long. We want to mention a few: Marijan Beneš, Anton Josipović, Slobodan Kačar, Tadija Kačar, Miodrag Perunović, Mirko Puzović, Redžep Redžepovski, Ace Rusevski, Damir Škaro, Zvonimir Vujin.

In the 1978 edition, the Yugoslavian Team won 6 silver medals with Fazlija Sazacirov (Bantam), Bratislav Ristic (Feather), Memet Bogvijevic (Light welter), Miodrag Perunovic (welter), Tadija Kacar (Lightheavy), Dragomir Vujkovic ( Heavyweight) and a bronze with Slobodan Kacar (middleweight)

And therefore the new republics of the former Yugoslavia are committed to maintaining the high tradition and prestige given by these great champions.

Great participation is expected both in terms of participating countries and in terms of athletes. In 1978 there were 11 official categories of Olympic boxing. After the drastic reduction of the categories applied by the IOC in Tokyo, AIBA, with admirable foresight, increased the number of categories to 13 and thus allowing a greater number of athletes to crown their dreams in continental and world competitions.

There is also the extraordinary prize for the medalists: 100,000 $ for the gold medal, 50,000 $ for the silver and 25,000 $ for the bronze.

We firmly believe that the Serbian Boxing Federation led by Nenad Borovcanin, the LOC and AIBA will offer an unforgettable World Championships.

2022 EUBC Championships

In the coming year, the competitive activity on our continent will be very intense and full of great events, already assigned by the EUBC Executive Committee.

Please find below the hosting Countries of the EUBC Championships scheduled in 2022:

– EUBC U22 Men’s and Women’s European Boxing Championships – March 2022 / Zagreb, Croatia;

– EUBC Youth Men’s and Women’s European Boxing Championships – April 2022 / Sofia, Bulgaria;

– EUBC Men’s European Boxing Championships – May 2022 / Yerevan, Armenia;

– EUBC Women’s European Boxing Championships – June 2022 / Ulan-Ude, Russia;

– EUBC Junior Boys and Girls European Boxing Championships – July 2022 / Monza, Italy

– EUBC Schoolboys and Schoolgirls European Boxing Championships – Erzurum, Turkey.

Congratulations

• I would like to  greet with great affection and esteem the re-election of Bono Bosnjak as head of the Croatian Boxing Federation which under his leadership has regained prestige and success in all major international competitions.

• Congratulations to the Mayor of Assisi, Stefania Proietti, always close to the international activities of boxing, for her brilliant electoral success that reconfirms her at the helm of the city for the next 5 years.

• Best wishes for a long and happy life together with Fady to Ali Harabosky, for long years as responsible of EUBC International Relations, who got married on 2 October.