Eighteen final contests took place at the Akaki Kakauridze U19 Boxing Tournament in the city of Kutaisi, Georgia over the weekend where Banuchichak Nasirli, Andrea Buelga, Davit Mkhetsadze, Shalva Beridze, Akhmadi Arvaz and Safdar Mammadzada all won the titles.
Altogether 26 female and 150 male boxers competed the Akaki Kakauridze U19 Youth Tournament in Georgia.
The boxers from the 2008 and 2009 born age groups were eligible to participate in the Akaki Kakauridze U19 Youth Tournament in Georgia.
The event will be a perfect preparation event for the upcoming U19 World Boxing Championships which is scheduled to take place in Budva, Montenegro on October 13-28.
The bout of the day
Davit Mkhetsadze won the Georgian U19 National Championships this February and he prepared hard to this Kakauridze Tournament where he could fight in the front of his family and fans. Mkhetsadze lives and trains in Kutaisi and he used the familiar environment to take the title of the men’s 80kg in this strong U19 event. The Georgian boxer had a very hard job against Armenia’s European Youth Champion Samvel Siramargyan but he could share his power well to win this difficult final bout.
The surprise of the day
Romania’s European Junior bronze medallist Denis Cucu won several international events in the recent one year and he was the main favourite for the title at the super heavyweight. The 18-year-old Romanian has high goals in 2026 and he performed also well in the final but Azerbaijan’s Safdar Mammadzada had the great last round to win their title contest by 3:2 split decision.
The Round-up
Azerbaijan’s Banuchichak Nasirli, the European U19 silver medallist, had a quick success in the semi-finals of the women’s 48kg and she faced another Georgian girl, Liza Kokosadze for the title of the Kakauridze Tournament. The 18-year-old Azeri proved her strength once again and the referee stopped the unequal final bout still in the first round.
Spain’s Andrea Buelga Garcia joined the U19 age group this January and she had a superb start in the youth competitions. The Spaniard controlled her semi-final bout well enough and she had a massive opening round against Georgia’s Sopho Gigauri at the women’s 51kg. The 17-year-old Spanish felt that she is the stronger while the Georgian ringside abandoned the bout in the second round.
Lithuania’s European Junior medallist Jelizaveta Jakimova not only advanced to the final of the Kakauridze Tournament but she had the strong motivation to take the title of the women’s 57kg. The 18-year-old Lithuanian started the first round better than Georgia’s Nino Bekauri and she was able to keep the full control until the end of the contest.
Georgia’s Lika Bukia was born in a boxing family and she had the outstanding performance to beat her teammate, Lilie Sagrishvili in the final of the women’s 60kg. Nini Malania (65kg) and Gvantsa Berulava (+80kg) claimed two further gold medals for the Georgians in the women’s part of the Kakauridze Tournament.
Kyrgyzstan sent a promising female team to the event and their Asian U19 bronze medallist Zarina Asanova caused a small surprise in the day of the semi-finals. The 18-year-old boxer had the comfortable advantage on the judges’ scorecards against Georgia’s Anzhela Momtselidze after the first round and she bagged an important title for Kyrgyzstan.
Georgia’s Shalva Beridze is one of the highest hopes of the host country in this age group despite that the 17-year-old boxer is still new among the U19 boxers. The Tbilisi-based boxer used his excellent reach to keep his final opponent, Armenia’s Tigran Kirakosyan on long from the first seconds. Beridze was also stronger in several of the exchanges and the ringside doctor stopped their 50kg final bout in the third round.
Spain’s Manuel Bueno won several of his difficult contests by 3:2 split decision this year and he continued that in Kutaisi as well. The 17-year-old Spaniard had a tough final opponent, Denis Alexandrescu of Romania but he had the stamina in the third round to win the title at the men’s 55kg. Georgia’s favourite Emil Ismailovi was not able to box in the semi-finals and he earned a bronze medal but he is still a high hope in all of the major U19 events this year.
The U19 National Champion Sandro Kapanadze won the first Georgia vs. Azerbaijan final battle in Kutaisi after beating Ali Baghishov by unanimous decision at the men’s 60kg. Georgia’s next title was achieved by the Batumi-based Nika Papava who had the tactical success over Azerbaijan’s Shahin Aslanov at the 65kg.
Kyrgyzstan’s World Boxing Future Cup silver medallist Akhmadi Arvaz is only 17-year-old but he has already more than 100 bouts and the powerful athlete won more than 95% of his international contests. The Asian Junior Champion was too strong for Lithuania’s Pozniakas Tournament winner Matas Naumcev and the referee stopped their 75kg final bout in the third round.