India’s Aarti Dhariyal, Algeria’s Mohamed Abbas, Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari and Romania’s Marian Alexandru Buleu all shined in the second competition day at the 52nd Golden Belt Tournament in Braila today.
The 52nd edition of the Golden Belt Tournament is the next elite female and male competition on the road for the preparations to the European Elite Boxing Championships, Asian Games and the Panamerican Boxing Championships.
The Golden Belt Tournament will be fully transparent with live scoring at the Boxerbase website at www.boxerbase.comand all of the fans can follow the event in all of the competition days.
The bout of the day
India’s Uttarakhand-based Aarti Dhariyal and Algeria’s Doua Rouaz opened the second competition day in Braila and the two boxers invested all of their efforts already to the first round. The Algerian competed at the Strandja Trophy Tournament and she proved her progress but Dhariyal had the advantage after the first round. The Algerian worked better in the second round, she reduced the fighting distance effectively but the referee counted her in the decisive third period. The Indian, who began boxing in 2018, made a superb performance in the third round and she advanced to the next round at the women’s 54kg.
The surprise of the day
Uzbekistan’s Safarmurod Allaberganov had an easy success in the first competition day and he met Romania’s Marian Alexandru Buleu as second in Braila. The local boxer was a more difficult rival for him and he tried to land his strict jabs but Buleu adopted the level of this busy 75kg contest. Allaberganov received a warning from the referee and Buleu had good counter-attacks as well to win this semi-final bout today.
The Round-Up
Algeria’s Mohamed Abbas opened his campaign successfully in the first day of boxing at the Golden Belt Tournament in Braila. The Algerian had a height disadvantage against Moldova’s Vladimir Hlebanovschii in his second bout in the event but he worked superbly in the first round. Abbas, who lives in Algiers, moved forward without any stoppage and his pressure paid off in most of the exchanges to win their meeting at the 55kg.
India’s Priyanshu Dabas and Algeria’s Amine Zazaz met in the next bout at the 55kg weight class which looked seriously close in the first round. The Indian increased his speed in the second round effectively and his uppercuts worked well enough to take the lead on the scorecards. Dabas was technically better in their meeting and his energetic last round guaranteed the final success for the Indian athlete.
Uzbekistan’s Sanjarbek Vakhobov opened his campaign successfully in the first day and he looked well-prepared to his second rival, Algeria’s tall Mouatez Bechegra. The young Uzbek used his tricky style of boxing in the first and second rounds as well while the North African was unable to keep him on long today. The Uzbek lightweight boxer dominated all of the three rounds with his unpredictable movements and he deserved to win his second contest in Braila.
Haiti’s Geronimo Seide Saint-Louis impressed in the first session yesterday and the US-based athlete had a strong start also against Moldova’s Nichita Simanschii today. Seide keeps his focus on the upcoming Central American and Caribbean Games and excluding one moment, he controlled all of the exchanges in the first round. Simanschii tried to increase his rhythm in the beginning of the second round but the Haitian had also the tactical change in time to win his next fight in Braila.
Moldova’s Vladislav Vaskovskyi and Ukraine’s Vynnytsa-based Ilia Hnatiuk faced in the next contest of the second competition day at the 65kg weight category. Their physical skills, height, condition and technical skills were very similar therefore it was hard for the judges to score the equal first round. Hnatiuk, who started boxing eight years ago, found the best fighting range earlier than his Moldovan opponent and he deserved to win this tight contest.
India’s Rohit had a massive height disadvantage against Ukraine’s David Zhyhzhzhavyn but when he landed a hook, it was a tough experience for his opponent. The Indian was stronger in the exchanges and the referee had to count the Ukrainian in the second round therefore Rohit enjoyed a comfortable advantage on the scorecards after six minutes. Rohit performed well again and after Romania’s Robert Csiki, he defeated the experienced Ukrainian as well.
Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari earned already medals in the European Championships and he is one of the most experienced in their national squad. The 24-year-old Moldovan controlled the first exchanges against Romania’s Andrei Maftei in the battle of the southpaw boxers. Cebotari knocked down his local opponent still in the first round and the Romanian ringside abandoned their unequal 75kg contest.
Romania’s next ace in action was Florin Ionita who moved up to the super heavyweight only in the recent period but he had the strong physical skills to dictate the tempo against Eduard Husiev of Ukraine. The former European Youth silver medallist Ionita used his longer reach and height advantage effectively to win this tight quarter-final bout.