The last day of the preliminaries contained thirty-eight bouts in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Day4. Georgia’s Gocha Gordulava had to meet with his main rival Hungary’s Levente Olah in the battle of the European Champions and won the bout of the day.
The winners of the bouts on Day4 have joined to the quarter-finals and remained their chance alive to take a guaranteed medal in Sofia. Altogether 181 contests took place in the opening four days in the competition and 196 boxers have still the chance to win medals in the Bulgarian capital.
Altogether 402 boxers registered from 40 nations to the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships and among them 377 arrived to Sofia, which made the event busy and high quality. The Bulgarian Boxing Federation hosted the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in 2019 last time and after three years, the event returned to Sofia.
Boxers who were born in 2004 and in 2005 are eligible to attend in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Sofia. The 2021 edition introduced the new youth weight categories, the girls attended in 12 while the boys in 13 different weight classes in Montenegro and the schedule is the same in Sofia too.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks, the vaccines check and all of the health controls were the responsibility of the local organizers in Bulgaria avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
Georgia’s Gocha Gordulava joined to the international events in 2018 and he won the EUBC European Schoolboys Boxing Championships one year later. He claimed gold at the 2021 Georgian Junior National Championships but he had to miss the annual EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships which took place in Tbilisi. Gordulava joined to the youth age group this January, quickly won the national event and arrived to Sofia as one of the favourites. The Georgian had to meet in the last 16 with one of the stars of the lightweight (60kg), Hungary’s Levente Olah who had similar career route and he is EUBC European Junior Champion. Olah defeated most of his recent opponents by RSC but Gordulava had a good strategy against the powerful Hungarian. The Georgian was brave, won two out of the three rounds and he defeated his top rival in the final-level contest.
The Round-Up
Toni Iliev is one of the best Bulgarian local hopes in this EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships and he has the skills to earn a medal for his country in Sofia. The Bulgarian lightweight (60kg) boxer had a strong rival in the last 16, Switzerland’s Marwan Maslard who competed in several international events and bagged medals on them. Iliev was punctual and effective in their meeting and the Bulgarian joined to the quarter-finals where he will now meet with Latvia’s Bruno Bulders.
Armenia’s excellent future hope, Erik Israyelyan earned bronze medal in the last edition of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships therefore his mission is clear to reach the top of the podium in Sofia. Israyelyan is a powerful boxer, he knocked out his first opponent and started his next contest against Romania’s Florin Camen with strong performance. The Armenian had a massive leading after three minutes and his shots decided their contest in the second round.
Moldova’s Ianus Caravan competed already at the Galati 2019 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and the 18-year-old talent spends his second year in the youth age group. The light welterweight (63.5kg) boxer is now experienced and he landed the better punches against Switzerland’s Felix Meier. Caravan controlled the exchanges and advanced to the quarter-finals which means he can box for the guaranteed medal with Greece’s Panagiotis Kostouros who defeated Serbia’s Uros Cingelic.
Georgia’s next top boxer, Demuri Kajaia, who is gold medallist from the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships, proved his excellent technical skills once again in Sofia. The Georgian light welterweight (63.5kg) boxer used his height advantage against Poland’s Oliwier Szot and took the lead on the scorecards. The Polish boxer is one year older than his Georgian opponent and had plenty of international contests but he was not able to handle Kajaia’s strategy. The Georgian boxer will now meet in the quarter-finals with his main rival, Hungary’s Rafael Buza in an early final.
Romania’s Dorulet Tiu is a strong hope for his nation in this EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships who arrived to Sofia as a favourite. The Romanian boxer put himself to the spotlight in 2020 when he defeated a top Russian at the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. Tiu won the Brasov Open one and half months ago and he opened the first round with energetic punches against Slovenia’s Luka Rasic. The Slovenian was not able to stop the Romanian attacks therefore Tiu can box for the medal with Slovakia’s Roman Horvath. The experienced boxers of this light middleweight (71kg) as Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani, Hungary’s Levente Gemes, Montenegro’s Mirko Sarcevic and Croatia’s Leon Buzik all advanced to the quarter-finals.
The English girls returned to the international events after nearly two years of break and their Paige Howarth impressed in the fourth day of boxing. The English featherweight (57kg) boxer proved her fantastic skills and defeated Czech Republic’s Kristyna Cajanova on their meeting in the last 16. Her teammate, defending Youth National Champion Madison Adkins was also too smart for her rival, she eliminated Germany’s Carlotta Schuenemann at the women’s light middleweight (70kg).
The live streaming in the fifth competition day
You can follow all of the Day5 actions LIVE from the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships Sofia 2022 in the YouTube channel of the European Boxing Confederation: https://www.youtube.com/c/EubcboxingOrg/featured