The men’s semi-finals were on the official program of the 40th edition of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament in Subotica, Serbia on Day4. The EUBC European Youth Champions as Kanan Babayev and Aider Abduraimov eliminated their semi-final rivals but Germany’s Malek Semmo was the main surprise of the day.
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, North Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine and United States of America are the participating 21 nations at the 40th Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament. Among them Ukraine, India, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Scotland are the most successful nations in Subotica.
Altogether 48 women and 141 men boxers are participating for the medals in the new Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament. The event is a preparation tournament for the upcoming IBA Youth World Boxing Championships which will be held in La Nucia, Alicante region, Spain on November 13-27. The Technical Delegate of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament is Mr. Viorel Sima of Romania.
Boxers who were born in 2004 and in 2005 are eligible to attend in the 40th Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament where all of the 25 youth weight categories are in the official program. The total number of the participating nations was 15 in the 2021 Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament which was increased up to 21 in 2022.
The bout of the day
Azerbaijan’s Kanan Babayev achieved a fantastic gold medal at the Sofia 2022 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. The Azeri minimumweight (48kg) boxer had a top Kazakh rival, Uslam Seksenbayev in the semi-finals of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament. Babayev and his coaches prepared hard in the recent months to achieve the next career highlight at the upcoming IBA Youth World Boxing Championships. The 18-year-old Azeri used his experiences and followed the game plan to beat Seksenbayev in the semi-finals but he can expect a more difficult contest against India’s star, Vishvanath Suresh.
The surprise of the day
Germany’s Malek Semmo lost his contest in the Round of 16 at the annual EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Sofia this April but he is in much better shape in this Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament. The 18-year-old German delivered one of the main unexpected results of the fourth competition day when he eliminated Kazakhstan’s defending ASBC Asian Youth Champion Yegor Yegorov. Semmo maintained the best fighting distance successfully in the first round and his precise box delivered for him a spot in the finals of the middleweight (75kg).
The Round-Up
Scotland’s Aaron Cullen had a brilliant performance in the third competition day in Subotica and eliminated a top rival. The Scottish bantamweight (54kg) boxer is the most experienced in their youth national team and he had a similar fight on Day4. Cullen faced Kazakhstan’s Almat Abduali who achieved a silver medal at the Amman 2022 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships. Abduali is a new face in this weight class but a technically wonderful boxer who tried to keep the best fighting distance from the first seconds. Cullen improved his speed in the bout minute by minute and Abduali became his biggest scalp during his career. The Scotsman will be meeting for the title India’s Ashish who defeated Kazakhstan’s Zhandaulet Sarsenbayev in the second semi-final.
Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov achieved a gold medal at the Sofia 2022 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships as Kanan Babayev and he uses the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament as one of the final preparation tournaments before La Nucia. The 18-year-old Ukrainian featherweight (57kg) boxer won two out of the three rounds against India’s Nikhil and joined the final of the competition. Abduraimov will be boxing for the gold medal with a technician opponent, France’s Marwan Mouflih who eliminated the second Indian boxer of this weight class, Anand in Subotica.
The dream final has been realized in the men’s light welterweight (63.5kg) following India’s Vanshaj and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Yarovyi both advanced to the finals in Subotica. The Indian boxer won the ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships on March and has more than three years of strong international results. Vanshaj eliminated Ukraine’s Oleksandr Levchenko landing the stronger punches in their semi-final and proved a fantastic performance once again. His final opponent will be another Ukrainian, the EUBC European Junior Champion Yarovyi who had a one-sided bout against Scotland’s Sonny Kerr.
Two Ukrainians advanced to the final of the light heavyweight (80kg) in Subotica, firstly Mykyta Zasenok eliminated his Indian rival, secondly Vladyslav Dudar bowed out his Azeri opponent. Ukraine’s next finalist will be the 2020 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships silver medallist Dzhamal Kuliyev who stopped Serbia’s Lazar Lazarevic in the semi-finals of the cruiserweight (86kg). Kuliyev’s next rival will be Kazakhstan’s powerful and two-time ASBC Asian Youth Champion Temirlan Mukatayev.