Zulawinski and Brigadenko won the best boxer trophies at the Montenegro Youth & Junior Cup
25 May 2021Three junior and seven youth final contests were held in the fifth and last competition day at the Montenegro Youth & Junior Cup in Budva. Ukraine topped the medal table with seven gold medals but Azerbaijan and Georgia both claimed three titles in the event. Sweden’s Nick Zulawinski and Ukraine’s Viacheslav Brigadenko won the best boxer trophies in Budva.
Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, host Montenegro, North Macedonia, Palestine, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine and United States of America sent junior and youth boxers to the Montenegro Cup. All of the 14 attending countries claimed at least one bronze medal in the youth and junior tournament.
Montenegro hosted the last edition of the EUBC European Youth Boxing Championships in November 2020 and they had the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament in February 2021. The President of the Montenegro Boxing Federation Mr. Aleksandr Klemenko and his team work hard to develop the sport in the country.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks and all of the health controls were the responsibility of the local organizers in Montenegro to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the Montenegro Youth & Junior Cup. The Technical Delegate of the competition was Mrs. Susanne Karrlander, the member of the AIBA Women’s Commission.
The bout of the day
Ukraine’s Viacheslav Brigadenko was member of the junior national team already in 2018 and he developed rapidly in the recent period despite of the Covid-19 situation. He advanced to the final of the welterweight (69kg) where he had to box with Montenegro’s Damjan Lijesevic whose elder brother claimed silver medal at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships last month. Lijesevic was competitive rival for the experienced Ukrainian therefore Brigadenko had to keep his maximum focus until the very end. The Ukrainian not only won the difficult contest but he was able to take the Best Youth Boxer Trophy.
The Round-Up
Saba Eremeishvili came from the city of Kutaisi to Budva and the defending EUBC European Schoolboys Champion proved his top skills once again. He claimed only silver medal at the 2021 Georgian Junior National Championships but he moved up to the featherweight (57kg) since that competition and found his glorious way back to the top. The 16-year-old Georgian boxer controlled the first round against Serbia’s Vladica Miskovic and he was able to keep that level until the final gong.
Sweden’s Erwin Belezika was an unknown boxer in the international stage before the start of the Montenegro Cup. He stopped Azerbaijan’s Khagani Guliyev in the semi-final which was a quick contest for the Swedish youngster. Belezika was too strong also for Serbia’s Sava Stevanovic and claimed Sweden’s second gold medal in the Montenegro Cup taking the heavyweight (+80kg) title. His teammate Nick Zulawinski won the lightweight (60kg) on Day4 and he was named as the Best Junior Boxer of the event.
Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov claimed silver medal at the 2020 EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships in Sofia. From January 1, he is a youth boxer and the talented boxer was quickly involved to the team which attended at the Montenegro Cup. Abduraimov worked well in the whole final against Bulgaria’s Daniel Kirilov and his energetic style paid off in that bantamweight (56kg) bout.
