The Georgians dominated the semi-finals at the Abashidze Memorial Tournament in Batumi today but Azerbaijan’s Bilalhabasi Nazarov and Moldova’s Alexandru Paraschiv also impressed in the fourth day of boxing.
Georgia hosted the Kakauridze U19 Tournament earlier this month but their management decided to arrange another international event in the city of Batumi, the Abashidze Memorial Tournament.
Altogether 27 female and 71 male boxers are participating for the 17 available titles in the Abashidze Memorial Tournament in Batumi.
The Abashidze Memorial Tournament is a preparation event for the European Elite Boxing Championships which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria on September 15-26.
The bout of the day
Moldova’s European medallist Alexandru Paraschiv was near to qualify for the Paris Olympics but he has strong plans for LA 2028. The experienced Moldovan landed hard combinations to beat Georgia’s Giorgi Zhorzholiani in a superb 70kg contest, which was one of the top challenges of the fourth competition day. The 27-year-old Moldovan will face for the title with another Georgian pugilist, Nika Sukhashvili on Wednesday.
The surprise of the day
Georgia’s Davit Mushkudiani is a new face in the elite national team but he prepared well to the Abashidze Memorial Tournament. The Georgian boxer had a hard opponent, Azerbaijan’s Olympian Tayfur Aliyev, who bagged already a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games at the age of 18. Mushkudiani used his longer reach well to delivered the surprise of the day and he will be boxing for the title of the 60kg with Georgia’s Giorgi Kapanadze on Wednesday.
The Round-Up
Azerbaijan’s Bilalhabasi Nazarov has joined the elite competitions only this January and last year’s U19 star is now a finalist in the Abashidze Memorial Tournament. Nazarov eliminated Israel’s David Zakhari today and he will now meet Georgia’s Lasha Kereselidze for the title of the men’s 50kg.
Georgia’s Gor Ayvazyan earned several top results when he competed in the schoolboys, junior and youth age groups. The currently 21-year-old boxer bowed out Dima Putkaradze and he will now meet for the title of the 55kg, Israel’s Farid Hreish, who competed already in the 2018 edition of the European Schoolboys Boxing Championships.
Georgia’s European Youth bronze medallist Levan Demurovi had a dominant performance against his teammate, Nika Ositashvili in the semi-finals of the 65kg. The 20-year-old boxer won the first round 10:8 in all of the judges’ scorecards and his opponent abandoned the unequal fight in the third. Demurovi will have an important selection bout for the title with Lasha Gagnidze who walked over to the final against Azerbaijan’s Youth World runner-up Ali Abdullayev.
Georgia’s strong duo, Giorgi Natroshvili and Saba Papadze will meet in the final of the men’s 75kg weight class in Batumi following their hard roads to the title bout. Papadze eliminated Azerbaijan’s young Abbasgulu Shadlinski, which was a small surprise in the day of the semi-finals. Another two Georgians as Luka Matchutadze and Samvel Ghazaryan will be fighting for the gold medal of the men’s 80kg category to decide the spot in the national squad.
Greece’s Michail Tsamalidis claimed a gold medal at the 2022 edition of the European Youth Boxing Championships in Sofia and he moved up to the 85kg division this year. The 22-year-old Greek has already more than three years of elite routine in the national team and he had the pressure to stop Georgia’s Irakli Garibashvili in the semi-finals. The powerful Greek boxer will be fighting for the gold medal with Israel’s second finalist in Batumi, Ariel Prilutsky.
Georgia’s Nikoloz Begadze had the weight and the height disadvantage against Tariel Sharikadze but he caught his teammate with heavy shots to win their super heavyweight semi-final by RSC in the first round. The 28-year-old Georgian will now meet Azerbaijan’s Chanan Najafov for the title of the king’s weight class in Batumi.