Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan, France and the Netherlands shared gold medals at the Cologne Boxing World Cup

March 14th, 2021 / IBA

Germany’s main international competition, the Cologne Boxing World Cup, ended with its exciting final bouts. Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan, France and the Netherlands shared gold medals of the event. The first titles of the Cologne Boxing World Cup were earned by Jucielen Romeu of Brazil and Kevin Boakye-Schumann of Germany.

AIBA President Mr. Umar Kremlev opened the finals of the Cologne Boxing World Cup with his speech following his special training session which he led earlier at the venue. The President of the German Boxing Association Mr. Erich Dreke also welcomed the participants of the competition and wished good luck to all of the finalists.

Mayor of the city of Cologne Mrs. Henriette Reker sent her best wishes in the online message before the finals of the tournament. She underlined the successes of Germany’s boxing history and especially the city of Cologne’s impressive results in the sport which have had strong traditions for decades.

One of Germany’s boxing legends, Seoul 1988 Olympic Champion and AIBA World Champion Henry Maske also followed the bouts and presented medals at the Cologne Boxing World Cup.

Romeu and Boakye-Schumann won the first titles in Cologne

Germany’s powerful women and men duo opened the day of the finals of the Cologne Boxing World Cup. Among them surprisingly only Kevin Boakye-Schumann was able to get the gold medal in a hectic final fight.

Ornella Wahner is a historical German gold medallist of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships who needed time to regain her previous shape. She met with Brazil’s six-years younger Jucielen Romeu in the final of the featherweight (57kg). The South American talent worked from a long distance and she danced through the whole ring during their final contest. Wahner tried to pressurize her younger opponent but the speed difference decided their contest and Romeu celebrated the final success in Cologne.

Kevin Boakye-Schumann trains with Budapest 1985 European Champion Mr. Michael Timm. He has developed rapidly in the recent two years. The 23-year-old boxer is one of the top hopes at the middleweight (75kg) for the future. He tried to keep the control against Netherlands’ young Gradus Kraus. The Dutch boxer’s father is famous for several martial arts and Gradus is planning to continue the family’s tradition in boxing. Kraus, who was attending his first big elite international tournament, exceeded the expectations in the final contest and almost knocked out his German rival in the third round but Boakye-Schumann was able to keep his advantage and won the final by scoring decision.

France’s duo Billal Bennama and Samuel Kistohurry defeated their Kazakh rivals

France sent their best boxers to the Cologne Boxing World Cup excluding AIBA World Champion Sofiane Oumiha. Billal Bennama and his final opponent, Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossynov both claimed bronze medals at the Ekaterinburg 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships. The 22-year-old French had impressive footwork in the final against his Central Asian opponent and became a hard target for Bibossynov. Their fight was one of the best ones on the third competition day which delivered a gold medal for Team France in Cologne.

Samuel Kistohurry did an amazing series in the recent months following he qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The French featherweight (57kg) boxer won the Alexis Vastine Memorial Tournament, the 2020 Cologne Boxing World Cup and the Bocskai Memorial Tournament in the previous six months. Kistohurry, who has been attending international events since 2010, is a real fighter with amazing physical skills which he proved against Kazakhstan’s Orazbek Assylkulov. His opponent had nice technical boxing knowledge but Kistohurry’s strength was the difference between them today.

Kazakhstan won the two heaviest weight categories in Cologne

Kazakhstan had six male finalists at the Cologne Boxing World Cup out of their eight participated boxers. Their former head coach Mr. Myrzagali Aitzhanov led the team in Germany and following their four silver medals, the Kazakhs won in the two heaviest weight categories. Nurbek Oralbay suffered a narrow defeat to Brazil’s Keno Machado at the light heavyweight (81kg) in the bout of the previous youth stars. Following that, his twin brother, Youth Olympic Games winner Aibek Oralbay proved his excellent skills and defeated Brazil’s Abner Junior in a confident style at the heavyweight (91kg). Kazakhstan’s second gold medal was taken by two-time AIBA World Boxing Championships silver medallist Kamshybek Kunkabayev after beating France’s Mourad Aliev in the super heavyweight (+91kg).

The list of the winners in the Cologne Boxing World Cup

Women’s 51kg: Maxi Kloetzer, Germany

Women’s 57kg: Jucielen Romeu, Brazil

Women’s 60kg: Beatriz Ferreira, Brazil

Women’s 69kg: Leonie Mueller, Germany

Women’s 75kg: Nouchka Fontijn, Netherlands

Men’s 52kg: Billal Bennama, France

Men’s 57kg: Samuel Kistohurry, France

Men’s 63kg: Wanderson Oliveira, Brazil

Men’s 69kg: Magomed Schachidov, Germany

Men’s 75kg: Kevin Boakye-Schumann, Germany

Men’s 81kg: Keno Marley Machado, Brazil