The Gee Bee Tournament has got bright history since 1982 which event was won by Cuba’s legend Felix Savon in the past
04 March 2020The 39th edition of the Gee Bee Tournament will be the main event in the European boxing map this week which is a traditionally strong competition in Helsinki. The top boxing nations of the European continent will be attending in Finland once again which event was won by several stars in the recent four decades.
The first edition of the Gee Bee Tournament was held in 1982 and since then the Finnish Boxing Association hosted the competition every year without any single break. Bulgaria, German Democratic Republic and Finland each claimed three gold medals in the first edition on April 2-4 in 1982.
One of the most iconic boxers in the whole world is Cuba’s Felix Savon is three-time Olympic Games winner and six-time AIBA World Champion, furthermore he won the Gee Bee Tournament in 1988. Heavyweight’s Savon had to miss the Seoul Olympic Games in that year due to political reasons but the Gee Bee Tournament was one of his preparation events in 1988.
GDR’s Henry Maske, Bulgaria’s Moscow 1980 Olympic Champion Petar Lesov, Soviet Union’s Yevgeniy Sudakov, Finland’s legendary duo Esa Hukkanen and AIBA Junior World Champion Joni Turunen, Cuba’s multiple World Champion Juan Hernandez, Bulgaria’s Daniel Petrov, Romania’s three-time AIBA World Champion Francisc Vastag, Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov and China’s two-time Olympic Games winner Zou Shiming all won the Gee Bee Tournament during their career.
Among the gold medallists of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games France’s woman boxer Estelle Mossely, Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov and Russia’s Evgeniy Tishchenko claimed gold at the Gee Bee Tournament in the recent years. Spain’s current head coach in the national team Mr. Rafael Lozano won the Gee Bee Tournament in 1991.
The 36th edition of the Gee Bee Tournament was the first event in the current Tokyo 2020 Olympic era in 2017 when women boxers also have been added to the competition. Finland’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist Mira Potkonen won the women’s lightweight (60kg) three years ago. Kazakhstan’s Bekzad Nurdauletov joined to the elite age group in 2017 and quickly won the gold medal in the Gee Bee Tournament as a teenager which supported his title in the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships.
The 37th edition of the Gee Bee Tournament was also a strong event due the participation of Russia, England, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, France, Belarus, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden and Hungary. Kazakhstan’s AIBA World Champion Kairat Yeraliyev and his teammate Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medallist Vasiliy Levit were the main stars of the 2018 edition of the Gee Bee Tournament.
England claimed half dozens of gold medals in the 38th Gee Bee Tournament where Sweden’s Agnes Alexiusson, Thailand’s teenager Thitisan Panmod, furthermore Finland’s duo Elina Gustafsson and Arslan Khataev performed strongly. The Gee Bee Tournament was a strong preparation event for the Minsk 2019 European Games one year ago when England’s duo Pat McCormack and Benjamin Whittaker were also won their weight classes in Helsinki.
