An A category international tournament, the 6th Junior Nations Cup opened in Vrbas, Serbia where 28 contests were on the agenda of Day1. Czech Republic’s Maximilian Plachetka, Hungary’s Kevin Kozak and the top Azeri boxers all shined in the first competition day.
Serbia hosted the Nations Women’s Cup and the Belgrade Winner Tournament in 2022, and their third international event is the 6th Junior Nations Cup for the 15 and 16-year-old boxers. The Junior Nations Cup was launched in 2017 and the event is a relatively new international competition in the European boxing map. The venue of the Junior Nations Cup is the Drago Jovovic Sports Hall in Vrbas as in 2021 and the event to be live streamed through their official website: www.bsv.org.rs.
The competition is taking place for both genders, the junior girls and boys are able to compete from the pinweight (46kg) up to the heavyweight (+80kg) in Vrbas. The Tournament Director of the 6th Junior Nations Cup is Serbia’s ITO, Mr. Jovan Panic. The event is a strong and one of the last preparations for the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships which will start in the end of September.
The bout of the day
Czech Republic’s Maximilian Plachetka came from a boxing family and he received the right to compete at the Junior Nations Cup which is his preparation for the upcoming EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. The Czech talent faced New Zealand’s lone boxer in the entire event, Finbar O’Sullivan in the opening round of the men’s pinweight (46kg). The boxer from New Zealand travelled 17,000 km to participate in this international tournament but he was not able to beat the young Czech talent in Vrbas. Plachetka won two out of the three rounds and that performance was enough to join the next stage of boxing.
The Round-Up
Czech Republic’s Katrin Ivanovova participated at the 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Tbilisi and she impressed with her long-distance tactics and clear boxing. The tall Czech girl is one of the favourites at the women’s lightweight (60kg) in Vrbas where she started her campaign with Serbia’s Teodora Savovic. Ivanovova controlled the first round with excellent performance and she had the dominance in the whole fight to win her debuting contest in Vrbas.
Azerbaijan sent their junior team to the first edition of the Gheorgheni Open to Romania this June and the participated boxers got several medals and titles there. Bilal Nazarov is not the most experienced boxer in the junior team yet but he controlled all of the three rounds against Nikola Maksimovic at the pinweight (46kg). Azerbaijan’s best junior boxers, the experienced duo, Mahammadali Ashiraliyev and Mahammadali Kasimzade both advanced to the next round after beating their Italian opponents.
Hungary’s Kevin Kozak competed at the 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and achieved titles and medals in several international tournaments this year. The 16-year-old Hungarian competes at the light bantamweight (52kg) and he prepares for the upcoming EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. Kozak opened the first round against Serbia’s Nermin Mujdragic with several clear punches and he controlled the second round too. The Serbian’s best round was the third but Kozak marched into the semi-finals winning the bout unanimously.
Italy’s Francesco Savarese had less bouts than Azerbaijan’s Ziya Hasanov at the men’s welterweight (66kg) but he proved his strong developments since his last event. The Italian started the first round well against the Azeri boxer and he had excellent final period to win this tight contest. His teammate, Gabriel Morale had a tough performance against Serbia’s Lazar Radosevic at the light middleweight (70kg) and he followed his teammate to the next round of boxing.
The quote of the day
“Kevin controlled the contest from the first seconds and advanced to the semi-finals with excellent performance. He was tough, and dominated the first and second rounds with heavy shots. His concentration was less in the final round than in the first two but he had a brilliant performance on Day1,” said Hungary’s Katalin Ancsin, the coach of the boxer.