The Klitschko Brothers Youth Tournament, which served as one of the last warm up competitions for junior boxers ahead of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, was held in Berdychiv, Ukraine, where the host nation set a tournament record by capturing nine out of ten gold medals on offer.

Boxer of the tournament
Ukraine’s Viktor Petrov’s gruelling preparation for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics paid off as the silver medallist at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Sofia put on a dazzling display to take home gold at the Klitschko Brothers Tournament.

The 18-year-old light welterweight (64 kg) proved too strong for local rival and EUBC European Junior Continental Championships bronze medallist Vitaliy Tereshchuk who had beaten Petrov the last time the pair met.

Petrov unfortunately came up just short of victory against Russia’s young whirlwind Bibert Tumenov in the Youth World Championships final in Sofia in April but now plans to exact revenge in a possible rematch in Nanjing.

Team of the tournament
In a record performance for the host nation, Ukraine claimed nine gold medals in front of their home fans.

Youth National Champion Dmytro Zamotayev got his side off to winning ways and eight of his compatriots followed suit in Berdychiv with a Ukrainian winning gold in every weight category from light flyweight (49 kg) up to heavyweight (91 kg).

Surprise of the tournament
Emerging bright star Dmytro Zamotayev produced an upset when he defeated 18-year-old Moldovan Iulian Ivanov who boasted a significant advantage in experience over his Ukrainian opponent.

Ivanov has amassed over 70 bouts during a career that has seen him compete at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and has recently graduated to elite youth level but his skills were ultimately not enough to claim gold against the home favourite.

Ones to watch in the future
Ukraine’s Robert Marton spectacularly won the gold medal in the AIBA Junior World Championships on home soil in Kiev last year and qualified for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games following his recent bronze medal at the World Youth Championships in Sofia.

The 17-year-old heavyweight dominated his contest in the Klitschko Brothers Tournament and now has his sights firmly set on winning gold again in Nanjing.

Germany’s silver medallist at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships Peter Kadiru was the lone foreign boxer to win gold in Berdychiv, the 18-year-old super heavyweight (+91 kg) was more prolific in attack than Konstantin Pinchuk in their final bout to pip his Ukrainian opponent to the top of the podium.

Kadiru hopes to meet US rival Darmani Rock in Nanjing to reverse a recent loss to the American teenager in the final of the Youth World Championships in Sofia.

Stat/fact of the tournament
The Klitschko Brothers Youth Tournament is a competition with a strong field of talent in which the top Ukrainian youth boxers all took part and performed equally well.

The tournament served as both the final preparation event for the qualified Youth Olympic Games boxers and as a team selection for other athletes for the EUBC European Youth Continental Championships.

List of the winners in the Klichko Brothers Youth Tournament
49 kg: Dmytro Chulyacheyev, Ukraine
52 kg: Zhan Zhermen Nshimirimana, Ukraine
56 kg: Rostislav Kravchenko, Ukraine
60 kg: Artur Prygoda, Ukraine
64 kg: Viktor Petrov, Ukraine
69 kg: Oleksiy Tokarchuk, Ukraine
75 kg: Ramil Gadzhyiev, Ukraine
81 kg: Yaroslav Datsko, Ukraine
91 kg: Robert Marton, Ukraine
+91 kg: Peter Kadiru, Germany

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