Azerbaijan’s Zidan Hunbatov, Uzbekistan’s Sherbek Shokirov and Bulgaria’s Viktorio Iliev won tight contests at the Great Silk Way Tournament in Baku during the day of the quarter-finals.
Altogether 29 female and 97 male boxers are participating in the annual Great Silk Way Tournament in the heart of Azerbaijan.
Baku hosted several big events in the recent 20 years, including the Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships in 2011, the Youth World Boxing Championships and the Cadet World Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
Azerbaijan’s next sensation at the 55kg weight class, Zidan Hunbatov is a new addition from their powerful U19 team and he had strong pedigree in all of the previous international events. The teenager had a competitive rival today, Algeria’s Mohamed Abbas but his technical skills and stamina were enough to win this crucial battle today.
The surprise of the day
Kazakhstan’s Talgat Shayken achieved a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Youth Championships and a silver at the annual Youth World Boxing Championships. The Kazakh boxer returned to the events after a short break and he was named as one of the gold medal favourites at the men’s 75kg. Shayken surprisingly failed to reach a medal in Baku after his unexpected loss to Uzbekistan’s young Sherbek Shokirov.
The Round-Up
Turkey’s Gamze Soguksu is a talented boxer at the women’s 51kg but she had to meet Kazakhstan’s Youth World Champion Yelyanur Turganova in the third day of boxing. The 19-year-old Kazakh has just moved up to this weight class and she did not adopt the rhythm and the strength of the division yet. The Turkish boxer delivered her best ever performance in this bout and she defeated such a technician boxer as Turganova.
Azerbaijan’s Emili Rzayeva had an outstanding junior and youth boxing career and she is now a member of their elite national team. She had a seriously hard job against Algeria’s newcomer Melissa Hamda in the quarter-finals of the women’s 65kg but she managed to beat her opponent by 3:2 split decision.
Australia’s Eve Bryson joined the international events only 15 months ago but she had such a great progress after the intense training camps of the recent weeks. The Aussie boxer outpointed Kazakhstan’s Symbat Aliaskar today and her opponent abandoned this 65kg contest after the second round.
Azerbaijan’s Amin Mammadzade bagged silver medal at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament in Hungary last month and he moved back to the 55kg, which is the best for him. The local boxer gained the control against Uzbekistan’s Otabek Ismoilov in the first round and he kept it until the last gong today.
Kazakhstan’s experienced Timur Kabdeshov had a strong performance against Georgia’s Lado Karchava in the 55kg and he is also a medallist in Baku. His teammates, such as Beknur Batyrbek (85kg), Dauren Mamyr (85kg) and Ontalap Rakhmanov (90kg) all joined the next phase of the tournament.
Azerbaijan’s Zaur Gahramanov is another high hope for the future who demonstrated his power against Mahmud Huseynov at the 65kg. The best Azeri boxer in this weight class, the tall Malik Hasanov used his longer reach well enough to beat a dangerous opponent, Georgia’s Levan Demurovi in their quarter-final.
Bulgaria’s Viktorio Iliev developed rapidly in the recent one and half year and he achieved a fantastic silver medal at the European U23 Boxing Championships in 2025. The 19-year-old Bulgarian, who tested his skills also in World Cups last year, controlled most of the exchanges against Algeria’s promising Mohamed Walid Allaoui in the next 65kg quarter-final battle.