Following the marathon fourth competition day, 12 contests were on the schedule of the evening session at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey on Day5. Poland’s Daria Parada is only 20 but she was able to turn back her contest in this fantastic championship. Ireland’s EUBC European U22 Champion Lisa O’Rourke celebrated her 20th birthday with an amazing triumph today.
Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, England, Fair Chance Team, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales are representing the European Boxing Confederation in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The number of European boxers is 118 in Istanbul representing 27 different nations from all of the regions of the continent.
Boxers at the light middleweight (70kg), light heavyweight (81kg) and heavyweight (+81kg) fought for a place in the quarter-finals on Day5. A relatively longer day with 24 bouts are scheduled to be held on the sixth day of boxing in Istanbul on Saturday.
The bout of the day
Poland’s Daria Parada moved down to the light middleweight (70kg) from the middleweight (75kg) this year which was a perfect decision from the 20-year-old talent. She won medals in all of her junior, youth and U22 competitions and their coaching staff invited her to the elite national team. The Polish girls amazed during the previous four competition days, their boxers were in shape and delivered sensational victories. Parada had to meet with a more experienced Mongolian, Erdenetuya Enkhbaatar who opened the bout in better rhythm. The young Polish boxer adopted the tempo of the contest in the beginning of the second round and she was able to turn back this hectic bout today.
The Round-Up
Ireland’s Lisa O’Rourke achieved a gold medal at the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships and joined their elite squad for the very first time. O’Rourke met with Dominican Republic’s Olympic Games quarter-finalist Maria Moronta in the evening session and she started the bout in excellent tempo. O’Rourke is not an experienced boxer yet but her stamina, physical skills and the strong will to win supported her success today over a well-experienced rival. She celebrated her 20th birthday with an excellent success and made her teammates proud in the Basaksehir Arena.
Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan is an energetic boxer who has developed all of the aspects of her skills rapidly since 2019. The Armenian met with Japan’s Arisa Tsubata in the Round of 16 at the light middleweight (70kg) today and she was the favourite of their contest. Hovsepyan controlled the first round and she performed even better in the second dominating their Round of 16 bout. Her Japanese opponent moved ahead in the third round but her defensive skills were not matched to Hovsepyan and received plenty of blows from the victorious and strong Armenian boxer.
Following Sema Caliskan’s and Elif Guneri’s close successes, Sennur Demir had to meet with one of the stars of the heavyweight (+81kg) already in the last 16. Demir achieved a bronze at the 2016 and a silver at the 2018 edition of the Women’s World Boxing Championships and the experienced boxer has the clear objective in Istanbul. She met Kazakhstan’s 2016 AIBA Women’s World Champion Lazzat Kungeibayeva and controlled the first round with her speed. Demir was faster than her heavier Kazakh opponent today and won the bout by unanimous decision.
The quote of the day
“My previous category was the middleweight but I feel this light middleweight is much better for me. I am planning to move down to the welterweight in the future to use my speed. I was able to turn back my contest today due to my big heart,” said Poland’s energetic Daria Parada after her contest.