March 2022
Dedicated to you, all those whom I consider fighters, not because you always win, but because you never give up!
Dear boxing friends, this Newsletter is the last with which I address to you after 10 unforgettable years that I have come through with you, with all challenges, with your National Federations with your bitterness that I treated as mine, but also all your successes.
It has been 10 years in which European boxing has been consistent with its traditions. It has produced countless national, international and Olympic events.
European boxing was a protagonist of the first two editions of the “European Games” and many “World Series of Boxing”. It organized 46 European Championships, 12 World Championships and by 2024 two editions of the Olympic Games.
The EUBC, in close co-operation with the IBA, has offered various opportunities in training, has promoted youth training in boxing, has seen the growth of small Federations that have achieved prestigious technical results – Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Cyprus, Montenegro , Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Moldova, Israel, Albania, Kosovo, Monaco. All of them have shown their vitality by participating with valid athletes in high-level international competitions.
We have not given up in the face of sad AIBA challenges, nor in the face of the dramatic pandemic that has brought the health system to its knees across the continent and created enormous difficulties for contact sports such as boxing.
And now, from 24 February 2022 we have to witness a fratricidal war that jeopardizes peace in Europe and in the world. The high sense of human solidarity of our sports Federations and IBA is helping Ukrainian boxers to maintain their performance possibilities by hosting national teams for training and competitions. Thanks to Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Montenegro and others for the tangible support offered to Ukrainian boxers in this painful moment in the history of their country.
EUBC Board of Directors Meeting
On April 9, the EUBC Board of Directors met virtually. The points that are necessary for the smooth running of the Congress were approved.
The lawyer Alessandro Oliverio, EUBC Legal Councel, illustrated in details the procedures of voting and the lists of Candidates were approved: Boris van der Vorst (NED), Eyup Gozgec (TUR), Ioannis Filippatos (GRE) and Volodimir Prodyvus (UKR) for the Presidency and 15 Candidates to the Board of Directors: Alexander Klemenko (MNE), Andrè Micallef (MON), Boris van der Vorst (NED), David Tsiklauri (GEO), Dominique Nato (FRA), Felipe Martinez (ESP), Krasimir Ininski (BUL), Nenad Borovcanin (SRB), Ohanes Ovsepian (ARM), Per-Axel Sjoholm (SWE), Sumayd Khalidov (RUS), Svatopluk Zacek (CZE), Vasile Citea (ROU), Vusal Nasirli (AZE), Zsuzsanna Toth (HUN).
The election of the representatives of male athletes will take place on May 23rd in Yerevan during the EUBC Elite Men’s European Boxing Championships, while the election of the representatives of female athletes will take place on May 11th in Istanbul during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.
Some statistics:
And now, thanks also to our archive data validated by Tibor Kincses, I would like to offer you the summary results of the European boxers in the top world and Olympic competitions that have been achieved in these 10 years.
Olympic medals: 17 gold 17 Sliver 35 Bronze.
The medals won by European boxers at the Junior, Youth and Elite World Championships are a great considerable number.
Women: Junior, Youth and Elite boxers won 53 gold, 68 silver and 121 bronze medals.
Men: Junior Youth and Elite won 47 gold, 59 silver and 111 bronze medals.
It is an excellent balance sheet which shows that the technical level of European boxers maintains its valiant tradition.
At the same time organizational capacity of Europe is so far the most efficient in the world.
As many as 12 out of 20 editions of the World Championships were organized in Europe. With Russia being the most willing to promote major events by hosting 5 World Championships.
National and international organizational activity is always lively and attractive.
These days Bulgaria is hosting the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships while in the next month of May it will be Armenia to organize the EUBC Elite Men’s European Championships.
At the same time, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those people who have been around for all these 10 years and who are directly involved in all the achievements mentioned above. I am sensuously grateful to every member of the EUBC Board of Directors.
Your invaluable contribution to the work of the Confederation will remain in the history of European Boxing.
Cuban Boxers
A piece of news that has great historical importance is that which appeared on the pages of the main sports newspapers in this period.
The Cuban Boxing Federation has reopened the transition to professionalism of its boxers after 60 years. The long leadership of Fidel Castro had not allowed athletes of immense value such as Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon, Ariel Hernandez, Michel Lopez, Juan Sierra, Arnaldo Mesa, Pedro Carrion, Julio Gonzalez and many others, to compete with the great legends of American professional boxing. For many years the confrontation in Olympic boxing was not equal. The excessive technical power of the “state amateurs” of the Soviet Union, Eastern European countries and Cuba have given rise to unacceptable competitions due to the enormous difference between the technical values of novice boxers forced to fight against real professionals.
To make sure that the news was real, I called the President Alberto Puig de la Barca, who confirmed the historic news by adding that “Our primary goal is to stimulate the presence of our athletes also in the professional world to have better results at the Olympic level and to be able to compensate the sacrifices and the technical results of our athletes with an adequate financial compensation”.
The respect and admiration we have for the excellent Cuban boxing school requires us to foresee a great technical success of the Cuban boxers also in the professional field.
And in conclusion I would like to say, that I hope to meet you again at the European Boxing Academy, this is my legacy, in which I put my soul and my love for boxing. The idea of the Academy was born as the pinnacle of skills, knowledge and efforts to preserve and increase invaluable experience in boxing, which Europe has been able to accumulate over many years of successful performance.