Schmoranzova dethroned AIBA Women’s World Champion Bylon in the Strandja Memorial Tournament on Day2
21 February 2018The crowd of the 69th edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament saw the second preliminary day in the Bulgarian capital today. The biggest sensation of Day2 was delivered by Czech Republic’s veteran Martina Schmoranzova who eliminated Panama’s AIBA Women’s World Champion Atheyna Bylon at the welterweight (69kg).
Altogether 143 men and 93 women boxers from 30 countries are taking part in the 69th edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia. Russia, Kazakhstan, United States of America, China, England, Ukraine, India, Mongolia, Brazil, Italy, Canada, Romania, Morocco, and host Bulgaria are all attending among the top boxing nations in Sofia.
Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova robbed into the world of boxing in 2014 when she claimed the gold medal in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Jeju. The Rio 2016 Olympian Bulgarian boxer started her participation in the Strandja Memorial Tournament against such a strong rival as Russia’s Viktoria Kuleshova. The Bulgarian boxer won all of the rounds as the scoring of 10:9 using her longer reach in their bantamweight (54kg) contest.
Romania’s Lacramioara Perijoc won the gold medal in the Nations Women’s Cup in Serbia in January which event opened the whole year. The Romanian boxer is a strong fighter who began her featherweight (57kg) bout with strong punches and took the lead quickly against Canada’s favourite Sabrina Aubin in Sofia. The 22-year-old Perijoc continued her winning path which she started to build-up in January and eliminated a top North American rival.
Following Stoyka Petrova’s great show another Bulgarian female boxer Denitsa Eliseeva shined in the second competition day. AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Eliseeva, who moved down to featherweight (57kg), controlled her first fight in the Strandja Memorial Tournament and defeated England’s Raven Chapman by unanimous decision. Used to be veteran Eliseeva was competitive rival for Ireland’s star Katie Taylor and after a few poor years she is in top form again.
Italy’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion and Rio 2016 Olympian Irma Testa turned to 20 in December and decided to move down to the featherweight (57kg) as many boxers in the European continent. The young Italian is one of the tallest in that weight class therefore Sweden’s Helena Envall tried to reduce the fighting distance from the first seconds. Testa’s tactic worked better and her longer-range punches decided their battle in Sofia.
Norway’s EUBC European Confederation Women’s Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Madeleine Angelsen will be turning to 20 only later this year but she is already experienced elite boxer but her success over India’s National Champion Pwilao Basumatary was a big upset in the second competition day. The five years younger Norwegian won their contest by split decision which means Angelsen is already in the last four at the women’s light welterweight (64kg).
England’s AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Sandy Ryan moved up to the welterweight (69kg) in the recent months but she was confident against a young but dangerous rival in Sofia. Italy’s Angela Carini was AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion in 2015 but she was not able to reach her effective English opponent in the first preliminary round.
Czech Republic’s two-time EUBC European Confederation Women’s Boxing Championships bronze medallist Martina Schmoranzova delivered the biggest sensation of the second competition day. The Czech veteran, who competed at the middleweight (75kg) in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament two weeks ago, exceeded all of the previous expectations when she eliminated Panama’s AIBA Women’s World Champion Atheyna Bylon in their welterweight (69kg) bout.
The men’s bantamweight (56kg) saw amazing contests in the Strandja Memorial Tournament on Day 2. Firstly Spain’s 20-year-old Jose Quiles impressed the judges with his quick combinations against Armenia’s Zhirayr Sargsyan, secondly Ukraine’s former EUBC European Junior Champion Vladyslav Vyetoshkin shined against a tough rival, Iran’s Sajad Mohammadpour in Sofia.
Shakhriyor Akhmedov began his career as member of the Tajik national team but he switched to Russia three years ago. The 24-year-old boxer, who was in the Top8 at the Almaty 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships, knocked down Moldova’s younger hope Iulian Ivanov and controlled their contest from the first seconds. Akhmedov was too strong for his opponent and the Moldovan ringside abandoned their fight in the second round.
Bulgaria’s AIBA Youth World Champion Blagoy Naydenov returned to the world of the rings last year and competed in several international events to regain his previous form. Naydenov controlled the first two rounds against China’s Chen Daxiang and took the lead in each scorecard of their light heavyweight (81kg) bout. The Bulgarian boxer could relax for his next actions in the final round and celebrated his triumph in Sofia.
Greece’s Alexandros Tsanikidis opened his campaign at the Strandja Memorial Tournament with a great success on Day and following that his teammate Polyneikis Kalamaras repeated that performance. The second Greek man boxer in action landed several big punches on the target which meant Mauritius’ Jean Christopher Alberte was not enough competitive for Kalamaras on Day2.
