The first part of the quarter-finals saw 48 impressive contests in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Day5. Germany’s Jessica Vollmann delivered a surprise in the fifth day of boxing, she eliminated a European Champion in Sofia. 

The 48 winners of the bouts during the Day5 sessions, advanced to the semi-finals of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. Altogether 229 contests took place in the opening four days in the competition and 148 boxers have still the chance to win the titles 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

The Georgian girls claimed their first European medals in 2019 and their women’s boxing life is in developing stage following the decisions of their management. Tatia Bukia is their best future hope who had excellent schoolgirls and junior results in the recent years but she is a youth boxer now. The 17-year-old Georgian met for the medal with Italy’s Gloria Marelli and impressed in the first round with effective shots. The Italian ringside changed Martelli’s tactic and tried to do their best to turn back their quarter-final bout in Sofia. Bukia looked still fresh in the third round and her stamina decided their middleweight (75kg) contest. The main favourite of the weight class, Norway’s defending champion Sunniva Hofstad advanced to the last four too.

The surprise of the day

England’s Ebony Jones claimed gold medal already at the 2018 EUBC Schoolgirls European Boxing Championships in Albena. After four years of break, she returned to Bulgaria and arrived to Sofia as the main favourite of the women’s light flyweight (50kg). The English talent met with Germany’s Jessica Vollmann in a key quarter-final bout but she did not find the best strategy against her opponent. The German staff analysed the English boxer and Vollmann followed the tactic step by step to win their contest in Sofia. 

The Round-Up

The Romanians arrived to the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships with a strong team and their top boxers are still in the competition, remaining their hopes alive to win a medal in Sofia. Their Florin Ionita is already an experienced boxer who met in the quarter-final with Greece’s Isidoros Kefallinos at the heavyweight (92kg). The Romanian boxer used his height advantage well and kept his opponent on long in all of the three rounds therefore Ionita marched to the next stage of the competition.

Sweden’s Elwin Belezika robbed into the world of boxing one year ago when he won a junior competition without any previous international experiences. The Swedish boxer had to meet in his key contest with Armenia’s Avetik Hovakimyan who had more bouts during his career than his opponent but he could not find the best options today. Belezika has strong athletic skills, he is fast and used his longer hands to keep the safest distance during their contest. The Swedish boxer had massive advantage after six minutes of fight and saved some fuel to his next bout in Sofia.

Damar Thomas won the annual English Youth National Championships this February and received the right to attend in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. The English boy met with Germany’s Arianit Krasniqi who was still competitive in the first round but the Thomas turned up the heat in the second. The English has got excellent physical skills and his longer hands decided their contest in Sofia which was the best ever performance from Damar Thomas.

Hungary’s Nikolett Kovacs is the most experienced in their women’s youth national team but she could not expect to an easy contest against Kosovo’s EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships silver medallist Alnera Brahimi. The Hungarian claimed bronze medals at the 2019 EUBC Schoolgirls European Boxing Championships and at the 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. Kovacs worked hard from the first seconds, she landed multiple shots and pressurized her Kosovan opponent. Following her amazing performance, the 17-year-old Hungarian earned her first medal among the youth boxers and her third in the European Boxing Championships.

Ukraine’s Veronika Nakota achieved gold medal at the 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and she joined to the youth age group this January. The Ukrainian boxer was technically and tactically better than Romania’s Alina Cretu in the first and second rounds during their quarter-final bout. Nakota arrived to Sofia as the main gold medal contender of the women’s light middleweight (70kg) and she proved that her objective is realistic. She had the clear dominance in the third round when the referee stopped their contest confirming Nakota’s RSC success.

The Polish girls were brilliant in the recent women’s international championships in all levels of boxing. Their next generation member, Weronika Bochen claimed medals in the previous EUBC European Boxing Championships and she was named as a gold medal contender before the start of the Sofia event. She met in the quarter-final of the women’s heavyweight (+81kg) with Germany’s Sara Glaser who is a new addition to their youth national team. The German found her best tempo only in the third round following Bochen’s dominancy in the first and seconds therefore the Polish captured the guaranteed medal in Sofia.

The live streaming in the sixth competition day

You can follow all of the Day6 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