Twenty-five champions were crowned at the EUBC U23 European Boxing Championships that concluded yesterday in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Lisa O’Rourke of Ireland was amongst 12 gold medal winners in Sofia on the day of the women’s finals. O’Rourke, who became the Elite World champion at 70kg in 2022 at the age of 20, successfully retained her European title, defeating Darya Letsko in the final by a unanimous decision.

Sara Cirkovic from Serbia, who earlier this year became the European champion at elite level, defeated England’s Lauren Mackie in the 54kg final to add another major title to her already illustrious career, still only 20 years old.

England would find success in the 63kg final as Sacha Hickey defeated Serbian Kristina Kuluhova, and one weight category up, at 66kg, Ukraine’s Nataliia Merinova was victorious by split decision against Andreea Marin Loredana of Romania.

Merinova’s teammates Daria-Olha Hutarina and Iryna Lutsak won the 52kg and 81kg finals, respectively beating Gamze Soguksu of Türkiye and Tatia Bukia of Georgia.

Serbia’s Kristina Nad Varga won the 50kg final against Natalia Dominika Kuczewska of Poland, following on from Türkiye’s Nursulen Yalgattekin 48kg win over Carleigh Irving from Ireland by a tight split decision.

Elsewhere, Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan won by split decision in the 60kg final over Tetiana Dovgal from Ukraine, France’s Sthelyne Grosy claimed 57kg gold against Bojana Gojkovic of Montenegro, and Daria Kozorez, the 2024 Elite European champion from Moldova, won +81kg gold with a win over Seyma Duztas from Türkiye. 

Ukrainian Yurii Zakharieiev has added another title to his name, winning on the day of the men’s finals a in Sofia. The 22-year-old, who became the youngest to win gold at the World Boxing Championships in 2021, was successful again at European level, adding to his U23 European title two years ago. Zakharieiev was the unanimous victor in the 71kg final against Aleksandr Trofimcuk of Lithuania in his last major competition in the younger age categories.

Senior European medallists were victorious too, including Yojerlin Cesar from France who won the 80kg final against Murad Allahverdiyev from Azerbaijan, in the same year he took bronze in Belgrade. Radoslav Rosenov claimed victory on home soil, winning two years on from his U23 European title in the same season he took senior silver. This time the 60kg title went to him following a win over Armenia’s Artur Sahakyan.

Success continued for Ireland at these Championships, with Patsy Joyce upgrading from European youth bronze to U23 European gold by beating Aaron Cullen from Scotland by a split decision in the 54kg final. Louis Rooney was also victorious in the 48kg final, beating Tural Sariyev from Azerbaijan. Armenia’s Rudolf Garboyan won the 51kg final too with a defeat of Olympian Nijat Huseynov from Azerbaijan.

Adding to Zakharieiev’s win, Ukraine won another four gold medals. The first of these came for Danyil Zamorylo, beating Patris Mughalzai from England in the 63.5kg, immediately followed by Danylo Lozan’s 67kg triumph over Harutyun Hakobkokhyan from Armenia. Vasyl Tkachuk claimed victory in the +92kg final by a tight split decision verdict over Stylianos Roulias from Greece, while Dzhamal Kuliiev stopped a second Bulgarian victory, beating William Cholov in the 75kg division. Another Ukrainian gold was denied as Teagn Stott from England won the 86kg contest over Ashot Kocharian.

Elsewhere, Türkiye’s Emrah Yasar defeated Isaac Okoh from England in the 92kg final, and Gor Ayvazyan from Georgia won the 57kg final against Ruslan Aslikyan from Armenia.

Another outstanding competition delivered under the flag of the International Boxing Association (IBA).

____________ 

Media contacts:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

Share on Facebook

Tweet