Two sessions were held on the opening day of boxing at the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships in Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy. Ireland’s Kieran Molloy, France’s Hugo Grau and Denmark’s Sebastian Terteryan eliminated top opponents on Thursday.

Roseto degli Abruzzi hosted the 2018 EUBC European Youth Boxing Championships, and after three years of break, continental event returned to the city which is located in the Umbria region of Italy.

AIBA set a prize fund of $320,000 USD for the medalists of the tournament with finals on June 24. The winners will receive $8,000 USD. For silver medalists, AIBA provides a prize of $4,000 USD, for both bronze medalists – $2,000 each. The awards are equal for both genders in all 10 weight classes.

Ireland’s Kieran Molloy won the first top contest on the opening day

Germany’s Deniel Krotter won the Cologne Boxing World Cup in 2020 and he joined their U22 national team. He met in the first preliminary round with Ireland’s Kieran Molloy who competed already at the Minsk 2019 European Games and claimed bronze at the European Union Boxing Championships one year earlier. The older Irish and the German started the first round with a similar tactic and tried to find the holes of their defenses. The Irish southpaw landed nice hooks in the second round and he moved a lot into various directions to reach the German boxer. Despite of Krotter’s great finish, the Irish advanced to the 1/8 finals of the men’s welterweight (69kg).

France’s Hugo Grau proved his talent against a tough opponent

France’s 20-year-old Hugo Grau progressed well in the recent two years and moved up to the welterweight (69kg) where he is still one of the tallest boxers. His opponent, Scotland’s Tyler Jolly also has strong international experience, he is preparing hard to get a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The French boxer used his longer reach well in the first round and took the lead in each of the scorecards. The Scottish boxer tried to move more on his feet and was competitive in the second round against the new French sensation. Grau started the third round with a great left-handed punch and despite his warning in the final minute, he won his first bout in Roseto.

“I had good feelings in the ring today, I fought an opponent with lot of experience and I overcame him. It was a good bout to start the championships. I wanted to express my own boxing style and use my strength more than to adopt the adversary. I like my next opponent’s clean boxing style, it should be a nice fight,” said Grau.

Denmark’s Sebastian Terteryan proved his technical skills 

Lithuania’s Saimonas Banys claimed a silver medal at the 2016 EUBC European Youth Boxing Championships and represented the Baltic nation in all levels of international events as elite and U22. The Lithuanian southpaw had a technician rival, Denmark’s Sebastian Terteryan who is one of their biggest prospects. Banys moved ahead and tried to keep his taller Danish opponent on the close range but Terteryan had better footwork. The Armenian-descent Terteryan overcame the Lithuanian in most of the exchanges and won their contest by unanimous decision.

“It was great to get a good start in the championships. I fought with this Lithuanian rival before, so I knew he is physically strong. I felt that I was able to box well from distance and control the bout. The heat was a bit of factor, I felt myself a bit heavy but I came through to the next stage. I will meet with a French opponent, we know each other from previous competitions but never fought. He is a skilful boxer, so it could be a good contest, I have positive feelings about it,” commented his success 20-year-old Sebastian Terteryan.

The second competition day in Roseto degli Abruzzi

The women boxers also will be starting their campaigns on the second preliminary day of the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships in Roseto degli Abruzzi. Altogether 45 preliminary contests will be held on Day 2 and nine different weight categories involved in the next session.

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