Romania’s Arun Nicu Tudoroiu delivered the biggest sensation in the opening day of the 52nd Golden Belt Tournament in Braila where he surprised Uzbekistan’s Youth World Champion Abdulaziz Jurakulov in a high-rhythm bout but Haiti’s Geronimo Seide Saint-Louis also impressed in his opener.
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
Uzbekistan’s first boxer in action was Sanjarbek Vakhobov and he faced Romania’s Andrei Gavae who won the Golden Belt Tournament for the first time in 2022. The Uzbek talent won the first round 4-1 on the judges’ scorecards and he increased his tempo in the beginning of the second round which was too much for Gavae. Vakhobov was dominant and he landed effective punches in the corner therefore the Uzbek advanced to the next round in the men’s 60kg weight category.
The surprise of the day
Romania’s Arun Nicu Tudoroiu is a big puncher but he had to meet in the quarter-finals of the men’s 70kg, Uzbekistan’s Youth World Champion Abdulaziz Jurakulov. The 19-year-old Uzbek southpaw had longer reach but Tudoroiu’s footwork was also good enough to take the lead on the judges’ scorecards after three minutes. The Romanian youngster reached the level of the Uzbek boxer and he made a surprise in the competition day eliminating one of the favourites of the weight category.
The Round-Up
Algeria’s Mohamed Abbas, the southpaw at the men’s 55kg weight class, ruled the middle of the ring against Romania’s Ionut Vulpe and he was successful in the exchanges when he moved forward. The Algerian opened the second round with a strict jab and he stopped his Romanian opponent’s attacks therefore he had the massive advantage on the judges’ scorecards after six minutes of fight. Abbas was too experienced for the Romanian youngster and he had the unanimous success in the opening bout of the entire contest.
Romania’s Vasile Scalco and Moldova’s Nichita Simanschii met in the second contest of the Golden Belt Tournament which was the first contest at the men’s 60kg. Four out of the five judges favoured the Romanian boxer after the opening round but Scalco got also a warning from the Uzbek referee and the winner of the contest depended on the performance in the last three minutes. Simanschii found the best distance in the second round and he had the better performance also in the third to take the victory.
India’s Raman started the first seconds with heavy hooks but Algeria’s Mouatez Bechegra approved the fighting style of the South Asian athlete. The Algerian is a new boxer in the international stage but he used his longer reach better after the first exchanges and his jab was dangerous for Raman. Bechegra, as the entire Algerian team, have been preparing for the Mediterranean Games, dominated this contest with his technical skills and he joined the next stage of boxing at the 60kg.
Haiti is a small country in the Caribbean region but their Geronimo Seide Saint-Louis decided to compete at the Golden Belt Tournament. Seide has been preparing for the Central American & Caribbean Games and the US-based boxer landed better shots than Ukraine’s Andrii Lavreniuk in the first round. The Haitian athlete, who had 53 bouts during his career, saved fuels for the later actions in the third round and he had the clear success which was his nation’s first ever victory in the history of the Golden Belt Tournament.
Robert Csiki is a 22-year-old talent and the Hungarian-descent athlete decided to box for Romania in the recent months which strengthen the host country’s squad. He had a hard job against India’s Rohit in the first round but he tried switch his rhythm into the next level in the second period. Rohit used all of the angles to land his shots and the Indian won a close contest in the quarter-finals of the men’s 65kg.
After Alex Vasile Herteg’s success over Ukraine’s Danylo Balaban at the 70kg, the next Uzbek, Safarmurod Allaberganov was in action in the ring. The young Uzbek had an opponent from Ukraine, Danylo Balaban, who competed in various tournaments in the recent years. Allaberganov was a hard target for the Ukrainian athlete and he had the nice left-handed punches from safest and longer distance to earn the victory today.
Romania’s Rares Bogdan Stoiculescu was smaller than Algeria’s Mustapha Abdou but he had the fighting spirit to win this tight surprise contest at the 80kg. Moldova’s Valeriu Razmerita earned medals in European events already and he had the success over Romania’s David Anton in the next bout of this weight category.
Romania’s ex-Cuban Jorge Luis Mayeta impressed in the Belgrade Winner Tournament in Serbia two months ago and he had more than 15cm of height advantage against Alexandru Ciciureanu in their 85kg bout. The 19-year-old Mayeta looked one size bigger than his compatriot and he used his longer reach well enough to win this contest after three minutes when his opponent’s ringside abandoned the contest.