Saudi Arabia’s Yara Alamri, France’s Billal Bennama and Germany’s Sofian Bizzit were the heroes of the second competition day at the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands where the guaranteed medallists remained in actions.
Boxers four out of the five continents are participating in the 9th edition of the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands.
The live scoring of the Eindhoven Box Cup is available at the Boxerbase website: www.boxerbase.com while the strong international event also will use live streaming from all of the sessions on its Facebook page.
The Eindhoven Box Cup is a preparation event for the Commonwealth Games, the European Elite Boxing Championships and the Asian Games.
The bout of the day
Saudi Arabia began to develop women’s boxing only in 2021 but their Yara Alamri achieved a historic Asian medal three years later in Chiang Mai. Alamri is still a young prospect in the national team who has been preparing to the Asian Games and she surprised Belgium’s Narjiss Barmoussa with her nice technical skills. Alamri’s jabs were decisive today and despite of the Belgian’s great march in the third round, she secured a success for Saudi Arabia.
The surprise of the day
Thailand’s Weerapon Jongjoho claimed a bronze medal at the 2021 World Boxing Championships and the Paris Olympian was named as the main gold medal contender at the men’s 80kg. Everything looked fine for the Thai after two rounds, he had the advantage on the judges’ scorecards against Germany’s Sofian Bizzit. Jongjoho was exhausted in the third round and the 20-year-old German made stormy attacks which caused an unexpected 3:2 victory for Bizzit.
The Round-Up
Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat, the two-times World medallist, is one of the stars in the women’s part of the Eindhoven Box Cup. The 33-year-old Thai joined the elite squad still back in 2013 but his speed and footwork both are still extraordinary in the competitions. Raksat dominated all of the three rounds against Poland’s Nadia Formela and she had a warm-up before the medal phase of the women’s 51kg.
Spain’s Marta Lopez del Arbol competed at the 48kg weight class in all of her recent international tournaments but she tries to test herself at the 51kg in Eindhoven. Following her first success on Day1, the 26-year-old Spaniard eliminated Canada’s Olympic Qualifiers competitor McKenzie Wright with remarkable technical skills.
Netherlands’ Gabriella Weerheim and the 19-year-old Assia El Fachtali of Germany both are attacking boxers with amazing physical conditions. The duo had a superb battle at the women’s 54kg which was won by the local girl unanimously before another Dutch, the teenager Aaliyah Hoppema eliminated Switzerland’s Anna Jenni in a hectic 65kg quarter-final bout.
Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng was a surprise in the last Olympic cycle and after her medals in the World Championships, she achieved a silver in Paris. The Thai had some rest after the Olympics and she returned with perfect performance in Eindhoven where she was too strong for Ireland’s Kaci Rock at the 65kg.
France’s Mohamed Ounai opened the year in the Boxam Tournament with a silver medal and he is his nation’s new sensation in the elite national team. The French boxer was a hard target for Belgium’s Bruxelles Tournament winner Rasul Tisayev and his counter-attacks reached the target area several times to win their 65kg quarter-final.
Finland’s best male boxer, Ismail Umar has just recently competed in the first stage of the World Boxing Cup in Brazil and he continued his preparation in Eindhoven. Finland’s pride used his longer reach well to beat Germany’s young Simon Rieth but he needed to invest also a lot of efforts to make that happen in the last round.
Team Scotland has been preparing for their Commonwealth Games with full speed this year and their top boxers are ready to earn top results on home soil end of July. Sonny Kerr is only 21 but he had the routine and the technical knowledge to beat Saudi Arabia’s promising Naif Almoullad in the quarter-finals of the 70kg.
Netherlands’ Finn Bos joined the elite national team in this Olympic cycle but he won already dozens of the international bouts. The Dutch pugilist gained the control in the first round against Ukraine’s Yevhenii Ivaniuk and he was able to keep that until the last gong therefore Bos is a guaranteed medallist at the men’s 70kg. His strong teammates as Luna Beeloo and Mahmoud Al Chabtoun also won their contests in the second day of boxing.
Austria has four excellent options in the elite national team to reach top international results this year and their head coach is proud of Arsen Chabyan’s development. The young Austrian decided to compete in the 70kg this year and he showed his strength against Switzerland’s Timm Kellenberger, winning his second-in-a-row fight in Eindhoven.
England’s Matt Williams bagged a silver medal at the Boxam Tournament in Spain earlier this year and he enjoys his continuous challenges as a member of Team GB. Williams is a smaller super heavyweight boxer but he used his aggressive style of boxing once again to beat Germany’s Dennis Ohio today.
France’s Olympics silver medallist Billal Bennama has returned to the national team only a few weeks ago and he showed his extraordinary technical skills in the second competition day. The 28-year-old French controlled all of the three rounds against Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Alatbi and he is now also a guaranteed medallist.
Austria’s Lucky Osaro Aimufua is a member of the national team since 2023 and he reaches better and better international results. The Austrian was strict in the first exchanges and one of his punches became a lethal weapon against Saudi Arabia’s Abdelrahman Sadek which was a classis KO in their 80kg meeting. His teammate, Michael Fares Derouiche, the historic World bronze medallist from Liverpool, also succeeded against Suriname’s Shevano Balvers.
The big guns at the men’s 90kg such as England’s Isaac Okoh and Belgium’s World bronze medallist veteran Victor Schelstraete both triumphed over their tough rivals on Day2 and marched into the semi-finals. Okoh was too tall for Belgium’s Idris Leganase while Schelstraete had a tactical victory over Nigeria’s Kenneth Anigboro.