Natnicha Chongprongklang, Artur Kuzmenko, Abdul-Rahmaan Burton and Finn Bos won the awards after the finals of the 9th Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands.
Boxers four out of the five continents participated in the 9th edition of the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands with several Olympic and World medallists.
The Eindhoven Box Cup was a preparation event for the Commonwealth Games, the European Elite Boxing Championships and the Asian Games.
The bout of the day
England’s Isaac Okoh knocked out his semi-final opponent but Germany’s new face in the heavyweight, David Nwanya had a brave attempt to beat the top rival in the final of the 90kg. Okoh handled the tactical first round slightly better than the emerging German, and he had the better jabs in the decisive second as well. Nwanya did not match with Okoh’s routine but he had a great final round to reduce the difference between the two boxers and he made the title contest one of the tightest ones in Eindhoven. Okoh had still the advantage on the scorecards to take the gold medal in the prestigious tournament but Nwanya proved his future potential as well.
The surprise of the day
Poland’s 19-year-old Natalia Niewiadomska walked over to the title of the women’s 48kg following her experienced Ukrainian opponent, Hanna Okhota was unable to box in the day of the finals. Her teammate, Nikola Prymaczenko, reached her career highlight with her unexpected and tight success over Spain’s Marta Lopez del Arbol at the women’s 51kg. The Spaniard eliminated Thailand’s star Chuthamat Raksat in the semi-finals and gave in all therefore Prymaczenko looked fresh in their final meeting.
The Round-Up
Philippines’ Asian U19 Championships silver medallist Clark Vicera never boxed in Europe before the Belgrade Winner Tournament where he earned a gold medal one week ago. The Filipino teenager had some difficulties in the first round against Ukraine’s Maksym Rudyk but he switched into a higher tempo from the second. Vicera performed strongly in the second and third rounds to turn back their final at the men’s 50kg and he remained unbeaten in the European tournaments.
Thailand’s Natnicha Chongprongklang, the Asian Elite Champion from the 2024 edition, used her nice technical skills to keep the best fighting distance against Netherlands’ Gabriella Weerheim in the battle of the U23 boxers. Chongprongklang was better minutes by minutes in their women’s 54kg final meeting and she earned Thailand’s first gold medal in Eindhoven.
Philippines’ second finalist, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Carlo Paalam delivered one of the best performances in the entire Eindhoven Box Cup. The 28-year-old boxer eliminated another Olympic silver medallist, Billal Bennama of France in the semi-finals and he was too smart for England’s European U23 Championships runner-up Abdul-Rahmaan Burton in the final of the 55kg.
France’s Amina Zidani claimed a gold medal at the European Games three years ago and she had high expectations in the Olympic Games in Paris but she was not able to accomplish her minimum target on home soil. She gave birth to her little boy last year, that motivated her so much in the final of the women’s 57kg against Netherlands’ Tara Vogels, therefore she bagged her second tournament title in 2026.
Ukraine’s Tetiana Dovhal and Netherlands’ Maud Van der Toorn both won big youth events in 2022 and they knew each other from several events. The Dutch boxer felt the support of the home crowd but the 22-year-old Dovhal had the right tactical responses to Van der Toorn’s actions to take the title of the women’s 60kg.
Amy Broadhurst is one of the strongest boxers in Europe and the two-time World Champion made another strong step to reach her throne in all levels of boxing with her amazing performance in Eindhoven. Following her big comeback in the Feliks Stamm Memorial Tournament, the 29-year-old star defeated Thailand’s Olympic silver medallist Janjaem Suwannapheng and Netherlands’ Aaliyah Hoppema to earn the gold of the women’s 65kg.
Netherlands’ Mahmoud Al Chabtoun felt after the first round that he has to show more from his powerful attacks in the second and the local boy was able to do that in a close final against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Vasko. His teammate, Luna Beeloo returned to the national squad and she had the tight success over another Ukrainian boxer, the former World bronze medallist Anastasia Chernokolenko in the final of the women’s 70kg.
Ukraine’s Artur Kuzmenko, the European U23 Champion, had a tactical success over Finland’s Ismail Umar and he was named as the Best Male Boxer of the Eindhoven Box Cup. His teammate, Nikita Zakharchenko also succeeded in the event after beating Belgium’s Idriss Khlifi at the men’s 75kg final.
Netherlands’ next ace in the men’s national team, Finn Bos had confident style of boxing in the whole Eindhoven Box Cup and he secured the title of the men’s 70kg over a promising opponent, Belgium’s Hornel Ayetivi. The last Dutch finalist, Shannon Viet is not enough experienced in the international stage yet and Ukraine’s Raisa Piskun stopped her.
Nigeria’s Patricia Mbata impressed in the recent three years, the UK-based boxer not only competed in various international events but she has now a strong pedigree. Following that she won the Golden Girl Box Cup this year, she repeated that performance and achieved another gold medal in Eindhoven. Mbata gained the control of her final against Spain’s Belgrade Winner Tournament gold medallist Alma Garcia in the first round and she kept that until the last gong to won a title for Africa.
Austria’s European U23 quarter-finalist Lucky Osaro Aimufua walked over to the title of the men’s 80kg weight class against Germany’s new sensation, Sofian Bizzit today. His teammate, the historic World bronze medallist Michael Fares Derouiche had the skills to beat Germany’s Valerij Walter in the 85kg final which made Austria’s best ever performance in the history of the Eindhoven Box Cup.