Russia earned 10 gold medals in the 21st Umakhanov Memorial Tournament
13 August 2019The 21stedition of the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament was held in the city of Kaspiysk off the coast of the Caspian Sea. Russia claimed 10 out of the 15 women and men gold medals in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament while the remaining titles went to Uzbekistan, India and Italy.
The top boxing nations including Russia, China, Uzbekistan, India, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Mongolia, Italy and Belarus all attended in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament making the event as a world class tournament. Altogether 52 women and 168 men boxers competed for the medals in the city of Kaspiysk.
The Russian Boxing Federation will be hosting the AIBA World Men’s Elite Boxing Championships in September and the AIBA Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in October therefore the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament was a top preparation event and three out of the five Confederations sent boxers to Kaspiysk.
The following 20 nations took part in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, host Russia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The competition was held in the Ali Aliev Sport Palace which is a traditional boxing venue in the Dagestan region of the Russian Federation.
The bout of the finals
Russia’s Guseyn Magomedov had to win four tough contests during his road to the final of the light welterweight (64kg) but the experienced local boxer was ready to win the title after his tiring challenges in Kaspiysk. His final opponent was Tajikistan’s defending ASBC Asian Champion Bakhodur Usmonov who won several tournaments this year besides to his continental gold medal. The 21-year-old Tajik also won four bouts before the final and used his unpredictable footwork in their top contest. Magomedov caught his Central Asian opponent a few times and surprisingly he was able to beat the continental champion.
Surprise of the finals
The first gold medal of the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament was achieved by Italy’s Camilla Fadda who defeated four opponents in the event at the women’s flyweight (51kg). Fadda, who is fighting for her place in the top national team, was slightly better than Russia’s experienced Aleksandra Kuleshova and Belarus’ EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships bronze medallist Yulia Apanasovich as well. Both of her successes were big upsets in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament.
The Round-Up
Russia’s Natalia Shadrina is an experienced boxer at the women’s lightweight (60kg) who trains in UIan-Ude where the upcoming AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships will be held in October. The Russian boxer was too quick for Tunisia’s Khouloud Helimi and claimed the title of the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament. Russia’s next success was achieved by Anna Anfinogenova who had a tough middleweight (75kg) final against her teammate Patima Ayshalova in Kaspiysk.
Uzbekistan earned two gold medals in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in spite of the fact their best boxers had to miss the event. WSB boxer Abrorjon Kodirov dominated the flyweight (52kg) final against Russia’s Islamitdin Alisultanov achieving their first title. Uzbekistan’s second gold medal was taken by another impressive WSB fighter Abdulkhay Sharakhmatov who defeated India’s Commonwealth Games winner Gaurav Solanki in the final of the bantamweight (56kg).
Russia’s former WSB boxer 28-year-old Dzhamal Badrutdinov eliminated Turkmenistan’s Shokhrat Jumayev in the semi-final of the lightweight (60kg) and continued his winning path against Uzbekistan’s young Otabek Kholmatov in the final. Russia’s Shakhabbas Makhmudov also had experiences in the World Series Boxing as Dzhamal Badrutdinov and he had to do over his limit to beat Uzbekistan’s AIBA Junior World Champion and ASBC Asian Youth Champion Bilolbek Mirzarakhimov at the welterweight (64kg).
