Ukraine’s Taras Bondarchuk won the most difficult contest at the Istanbul Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament on Day2
19 March 2021The Istanbul Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament continued with 24 female and 33 male contests in Turkey. The winners of the second competition day advanced to the quarter-finals of the new international event. Ukraine’s Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Taras Bondarchuk won the most difficult contest of Day2.
The Ahmet Comert Tournament had excellent traditions in our sport but the Turkish Boxing Federation decided to launch a new international competition. Impressive number of nations arrived to Turkey from four Confederations to use this wonderful possibility to compete in the international stage. The European, the Asian, the American and the African Confederations’ National Federations decided to send boxers to Istanbul.
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 Istanbul to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the Istanbul Bosphorus Boxing Tournament. The event is holding with strict Covid-19 protocols as all of the previous European international tournaments.
The bout of the day
Ukraine’s Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Taras Bondarchuk has been preparing to the EUBC European U22 Boxing Championships and his next challenge on that road is the Istanbul Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament. The 20-year-old Ukrainian had a tough opponent as first, Azerbaijan’s Ruslan Rustamov who had also excellent youth results in the past. The Azeri boxer started the bout well in Istanbul and he had great shots but the Ukrainian adopted the rhythm in time. Bondarchuk had the speed advantage in the second part of the bout and his physical condition was enough strong to eliminate Azerbaijan’s future hope in Istanbul.
The surprise of the day
Turkey’s Mehmetcan Isik competed international events mostly as a youth boxer but he received the right to attend at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament and at the Strandja Memorial Tournament this year. The young Turkish super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer met in the second competition day with Algeria’s Chouaib Bouloudinats who qualified for his third Olympic Games. The North African veteran was more experienced but Isik had better rhythm in the bout and eliminated his tough rival.
The Round-Up
Turkey’s European Games winner and EUBC European Women’s Champion Busenaz Cakiroglu is one of the best female boxers of the flyweight (51kg) but she had to do her very best to beat Kazakhstan’s veteran Zhaina Shekerbekova. The Turkish boxer used her excellent technical repertoires to control the contest from longer distance against the Rio 2016 Olympian Kazakh. Following Cakiroglu’s success, Poland’s European Games silver medallist Sandra Drabik also secured her place in the last eight.
Azerbaijan’s former AIBA World Champion Javid Chalabiyev returned to the international boxing events after one year of break. The Azeri veteran met with Bahrain’s Ali Saeed Al-Aradi in the preliminary round of the lightweight (63kg) in Istanbul. Chalabiyev controlled the first round against his inexperienced opponent and dominated the second therefore the referee stopped their contest.
Turkey’s AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Necat Ekinci moved up to the welterweight (69kg) to get the chance to compete in big elite and U22 events this year. The 21-year-old Turkish boxer used an aggressive tactic against Azerbaijan’s young Nabi Isgandarov and he succeeded in home soil. The final verdict was split decision in the favour of Ekinci who advanced to the quarter-finals of the strong international event.
Azerbaijan’s Lorenzo Sotomayor was silver medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the veteran decided to continue his career. Sotomayor moved up to the welterweight (69kg) but he is still taller than any of his opponents therefore he tried to use his longer hands against Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Youth Champion Sanatali Toltayev. The Kazakh boxer had better skills but Sotomayor’s tactic worked slightly better in their narrow fight.
Azerbaijan’s EUBC European Youth Champion Mahammad Abdullayev was too strong for Turkey’s Adnan Yilmazbas in the first exchanges therefore his opponent’s ringside abandoned the contest at the super heavyweight (+91kg). Ukraine’s duo Viacheslav Havryliuk and Dmytro Lovchinskyi both won their contests against Indian and Turkish opponents and joined to the quarter-finals in Istanbul.
You can follow the event LIVE in the Turkish Boxing Federation’s
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwwh-1LgRRIpDLo2fug7Esw
