Subhan Mamedov won the most anticipated final of the Great Silk Way Tournament in Baku, where he defeated a European Youth Champion, Bilalkhabashi Nazarov.
Altogether 29 female and 97 male boxers competed in the annual Great Silk Way Tournament in the heart of Azerbaijan.
The bout of the day
The first male final bout was the most anticipated contest of the Great Silk Way Tournament and it has served as a selection between two Azeri stars. The European U23 Champion Subhan Mamedov eliminated Georgia’s Goga Topuria in the semi-finals of the men’s 50kg and he faced the 18-year-old super talented teammate, Bilalkhabashi Nazarov for the gold. The European Youth Champion Nazarov also has excellent technical skills and he showed not only strong resistance in the final but hard moments for the older Mamedov who had to do his very best to win this tough contest.
The surprise of the day
Turkey’s Refik Kartal caused a surprise in the semi-finals of the men’s 70kg when he eliminated Azerbaijan’s World Championships bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev. The Turkish boxer continued the winning path against Darkhan Duisebay of Kazakhstan which was another surprise victory for Kartal. The former Asian Youth Champion Kazakh was not enough punctual today therefore Kartal won their final by 3:2 split decision.
The Round-Up
After the top final at the 50kg, another two Azeri boxers competed for the title of the men’s 55kg which delivered another sensational battle. Amin Mammadzadeh is very busy this year, he claimed a silver medal at the recent Bocskai Memorial Tournament and he eliminated the favourite Zidan Hunbatov in the semi-finals. Mammadzadeh felt the distance once again and he had the best strategy to beat his teammate, Zalimkhan Suleymanov for the gold medal.
Georgia’s Georgi Natroshvili had a serious disadvantage after two rounds in the semi-finals of the 75kg when he faced the top favourite, the World bronze medallist Saidjamshid Jafarov of Azerbaijan but he had strong punches in the third to stop the No.1 of this weight class. Natroshvili focused more in the opening round of his final bout and he had the performance to beat Uzbekistan’s Sherbek Shokirov to take the title in Baku.
Kazakhstan’s Bakbergen Aliaskarov, the Asian U22 Champion, marched into the finals of the 80kg weight class using his powerful jabs. The Kazakh boxer had a local opponent in the final, Seyid Seyidov, and he controlled two out of the three rounds to win the final of this weight category at the Great Silk Way.
Turkey’s Bedirhan Kalkan achieved a bronze medal at the 2025 European U23 Boxing Championships in Budapest last November and he received the right to continue his international pathway at the Great Silk Way Tournament. The Turkish boxer felt the distance well against Kazakhstan’s Beknur Batyrbek and he earned the title of the 85kg.
Azerbaijan’s Surat Garayev had a tight success over Australia’s Joshua Heske in the final of the men’s 90kg which was another hectic bout in the sixth competition day. The Olympian and European Games silver medallist Mahammad Abdullayev had also an opponent for Australia, the National Selection winner Alexander Shaw. The Aussie boxer was highly competitive in the final against such strong opponent as Abdullayev but the local athlete celebrated the title after the last gong.
Two of the experienced Azeri boxers as the Olympian Tayfur Aliyev and Malik Hasanov both walked over to their titles at the 60kg and the 65kg.