Sports: IBA World Junior Championships. Armenian boxers start with four knockouts

Karlen Baghdasarian 2023
Inside the Games
Nov 25 2023

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  • By Rafael Khalatyan

    •  

  •  Friday,

Yerevan has become the center of many boxing events recently. The capital of Armenia hosted the EUBC European Championships in 2022, the 2023 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships and several IBA congresses. And now the 2023 IBA World Junior Championships are held in Mika sport complex in Yerevan.

A great opening ceremony on November 23 set the high bar for the tournament. Athletes from 51 participating nations were greeted by IBA president Umar Kremlev. “It is crucial that our grassroots boxers have the conditions to compete. Children are our future, and none of them should be left alone. I congratulate everybody on this great celebration of junior boxing! Dear athletes, I wish the strongest would win, and we will be guarantors of the fair fights. Good luck to everybody”, said Kremlev in his speech.

And today the stage was already full of exciting bouts as the preliminary rounds of 48, 52, 57 and 63 kg weight categories had begun.

The first bout of the day brought a big joy to the home crowd. 48 kg boxer from Armenia Vagharshak Keyan knocked down his rival Lee Seunghun three times in the second round and claimed the victory by technical knockout. Armenian boxers were dominant on the first day of the competition. Not only Keyan but 52 kg boxer Aren Kharatyan, 57 kg boxer Tigran Makichyan and 63 kg boxer Alik Ktshoyan won their bouts by technical knockouts. They promoted four from four to the next round of the competitions.

It was a perfect day also for Russian boxers who had two representatives in the first day of the competitions. 52 kg Maksim Chaplygin and 57 kg boxer Platon Kozlov won their preliminary bouts with great confidence.

Uzbekistan, like Armenia, had four boxers on the opening day, but only three of them advanced to the next round. Abdulaziz Abdunazoaov (48 kg), Pahlavonjon Ibrohimov (57 kg) and Khikhmatilo Ulmasov (63 kg) defeated their rivals, but 52 kg boxer Ibrokim Giyosov lost his bout to Amantur Dzhumaev from Kyrgyzstan. 

Another strong performance was shown by the Irish team. Three boxers from the Republic of Ireland were in action on the first day and all of them – Christian Doyle (52 kg), Patrick Kelly (57 kg) and John Maher (63 kg) won their bouts with unanimous decisions. 

Javier Martinez Derlys from Ecuador and Dzmitry Sarokin from Belarus produced one of the closest bouts of the day in the 63 kg weight category. At the end of the bout 3 judges gave the victory to the Ecuadorian and the latter won with split decision, though Sarokin didn’t agree with the judges.

Tomorrow boxers from 4 more weight categories will step to the ring and have their bouts in the preliminary round.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1142657/iba-world-junior