Ukraine’s teenage sensation Yuriy Zakharieiev won the youth and elite world titles in the same year
08 November 2021Ukraine’s Yuriy Zakharieiev is the first boxer in the whole globe who could win the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and the AIBA Elite World Boxing Championships in the same year. The 19-year-old Ukrainian dominated his light middleweight (71kg) final and continued his unbeaten series but this time among the elite boxers.
The European Boxing Confederation’s boxers earned altogether four titles in the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade. Yuriy Zakharieiev joined to France’s Sofiane Oumiha, Russian Boxing Federation’s Mark Petrovskii and Azerbaijan’s Loren Berto Alfonso.
The Russian Boxing Federation, France, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Italy are the European which had got finalists at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia after the semi-finals. The Russian Boxing Federation, Georgia, France, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Italy, Belgium, Armenia, Turkey, Scotland, Albania, Ukraine, Serbia and Spain were the medallist nations Belgrade from the European countries.
After all of the twelve competition days, 497 bouts were concluded in the AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships where the total number of boxers was 510 from 88 nations representing four Confederations. Among the participating 88 countries, 38 arrived from the European continent which competed with 246 boxers in Serbia’s capital city during the recent two weeks. The Technical Delegate of the AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships was Mr. Marko Marovic of Croatia.
The bout of the day
Belarus’ 21-year-old Aliaksei Alfiorau reached his career highlight when he advanced to the final of the light heavyweight (80kg). He was their first finalist since the Mianyang 2005 edition after his impressive road to the title contest. The Belarusian boxer began boxing in 2010 and after eleven years of experiences the young hope shined in this championship. The AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Alfiorau surprised the more experienced final opponent, United States’ Robby Gonzales. Alfiorau knocked down his US opponent in the first minute and his speed amazed the fans at the Stark Arena in Belgrade. Gonzales returned to the match after the first break with strong advices and his rhythm change was able to turn back their close final. Despite of Alfiorau’s silver medal, the young Belarusian could feel the support of the crowd and he reached his best ever result.
The Round-Up
Turkey’s Kerem Ozmen is one of the top sensations of the whole AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships. The Turkish talent eliminated a top Russian boxer, Tengiz Kotoian in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce six months ago and joined to the quarter-finals. None of the experts expected his strong development within short period of time but he eliminated his Hungarian, Indian and Scottish opponents at the light welterweight (63.5kg). The 19-year-old Turkish tried to do his very best against Cuba’s two-time AIBA World Champion Andy Cruz who is unbeaten since October 2015. Ozmen was competitive only in the first round and following that the Cuban dominated their final with his experiences but the youngster claimed a silver medal for Turkey.
Ukraine was not so successful in this AIBA World Boxing Championships, only one of their boxers among the 13 participants advanced to the quarter-finals. That young boxer is their biggest boxing talent, the 19-year-old Yuriy Zakharieiev who is AIBA Youth World Champion and two-time EUBC European Youth Championships gold medallist. The Ukrainian gained the control of his final immediately and Russian Boxing Federation’s Vadim Musaev could not catch him with tough punches. The eight-years younger Ukrainian was highly confident in the second round and his rhythm looked uncomfortable for the Russian boxer. Zakharieiev moved away from the Russian attacks in the third round of the light middleweight (71kg) final and his skills were enough to win the elite title following his youth gold medals.
Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine achieved gold medals at the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships, Mediterranean Games and European Union Boxing Championships in 2018. The Italian heavyweight (92kg) boxer found back his way to the glory and shined in the whole AIBA World Boxing Championships. He eliminated Spain’s former Cuban star, Emmanuel Reyes in the semi-finals and he had an amazing attempt to be competitive for Julio Cesar La Cruz. The Cuban No.1 won the AIBA World Boxing Championships four-times between 2011 and 2017 but Mouhiidine had a good strategy against him in the first round. The Italian was competitive in the first round so much and La Cruz must go ahead which is not common from the Cuban. La Cruz used his amazing rhythm and quick footwork to win this championship against the promising Italian.
The quote of the day
“I won the gold medal at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships half year ago and I hoped that I can make it among the elite boxers in Belgrade. The final was tough but I worked hard to win this next title,” commented his gold medal Ukraine’s Yuriy Zakharieiev, their 19-year-old talent.
