Georgian boxer makes history as Russian team takes a hat-trick of titles in Kolobrzeg
November 30th, 2015 / All
The EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships came to a close in the Polish city of Kolobrzeg, with seven countries taking home gold medals. Three titles made the Russians the top side at the competition, while Germany took home two, including a successful defence of his super heavyweight title by the promising talent Peter Kadiru.
The light flyweight contest between Azerbaijan’s EUBC European Junior Champion Ruslan Rustamov and Ireland’s Commonwealth Youth Games winner Stephen McKenna set the tone for an excellent day’s boxing, with Rustamov emerging victorious from a bruising encounter.
Akash Tuqir had eliminated Ireland’s AIBA Junior World Champion and early favourite William Donoghue in their semi-final, and had to work hard to deliver England’s sole gold, beating Armenia’s Vahe Badalyan in the flyweight final.
Italy’s Raffaele Di Serio took the bantamweight title, and Germany’s Brandenburg Youth Cup winner Dennis Gashi finished strongly to beat James McGivern in their lightweight contest.
“My performance was good enough to win a difficult final, and my coach and I knew I had to move well. I can’t yet believe I am the European Youth Champion. Now I am looking forward to boxing at the 2016 AIBA Youth World Championships in St. Petersburg, but my main goal is to win gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said the ambitious 17-year-old Gashi at the end of his first year as a youth-level boxer.
Russia’s Konstantin Mishechkin took the light welterweight title, while Ireland’s Michael Nevin ensured his team returned with a gold with a walkover in the welterweight final. Dzhamal Makhmudov and Muslim Gadzhimagomedov bagged Russia’s second and third gold medals, before Heydar Aliyev Junior Cup winner Nikoloz Begadze won Georgia’s first-ever EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing gold with a sensational triumph over Ukraine’s AIBA Junior World Champion Robert Marton.
Rounding off the action was Germany’s Peter Kadiru, who successfully defended his super heavyweight title with a unanimous points win over Russia’s Brandenburg Youth Cup winner Valeriy Topuzyan.
List of winners at the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships
49 kg: Ruslan Rustamov, Azerbaijan
52 kg: Akash Tuqir, England
56 kg: Raffaele Di Serio, Italy
60 kg: Denis Gashi, Germany
64 kg: Konstantin Mishechkin, Russia
69 kg: Michael Nevin, Ireland
75 kg: Dzhamal Makhmudov, Russia
81 kg: Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, Russia
91 kg: Nikoloz Begadze, Georgia
+91 kg: Peter Kadiru, Germany
