The 30th edition of the Algirdas Socikas Tournament saw several great moments in Lithuania’s second biggest city in Kaunas on Day1. The Scottish team made a clean sweep in the day while Switzerland’s Diego Mazzarelli and Lithuania’s veteran Edgaras Skurdelis had the strong successes in their debuts.
The six-time Soviet National Champion Mr. Algirdas Socikas was one of the heroes of Lithuania's boxing life in the past, who won the European Boxing Championships two-times in 1953 in Warsaw and he repeated it in 1955 in West Berlin. Lithuania’s most important elite international boxing tournament was named after their national boxing icon who earned gold medals in several other events too.
Armenia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and Tajikistan are the 13 participating nations in the Algirdas Socikas Tournament.
The bout of the day
Scotland has excellent options in the men’s 70kg weight class, their Sonny Kerr is member of the GB while Taylor McMahon is also in promising stage. The second competes at the Algirdas Socikas Tournament and he prepared well against Armenia’s big puncher, Yura Bablumyan with great strategy. McMahon followed that tactical pathway and he eliminated a top opponent winning the bout by 4:1 split decision.
The surprise of the day
Switzerland sent a huge delegation to the Algirdas Socikas Tournament and two of their boxers exceeded the expectations in Kaunas on Day1. Alpha Kaser eliminated Germany’s Sebastien Culcay at the men’s 75kg weight class but Diego Mazzarelli delivered their best performance in the opener. Mazzarelli surprised a more experienced athlete in the first round of the 80kg, Moldova’s Valeriu Razmerita and he earned a well-deserved success.
The Round-Up
Scotland’s Niamh Mitchell, their former European Junior Champion, impressed in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament and the Gee Bee this year and she continued her active preparation at the Algirdas Socikas. The Scottish girl used her nice technical skills and patient style of boxing to beat Lithuania’s Ugne Vasiliauskaite in the women’s 60kg weight category with confidence.
Scotland’s Aaron Cullen, the European U23 Boxing Championships silver medallist, is member of Team GB but he focuses to the Commonwealth Games this year. The Scotsman controlled the first round against Switzerland’s Ajesch Ganesamoorthy and he had the advantages in routine and speed to win their 55kg contest with significant difference.
Lithuania’s Edgaras Skurdelis is one of the most experienced boxers in whole Europe, he started his international boxing career still back in 2008. The 33-year-old athlete competed in all levels of boxing excluding the Olympic Games and Los Angeles 2028 is on his focus. Skurdelis is able to keep his weight at 60kg and he had the better punches and the strength to beat Moldova’s Vladimir Melenciuc.
Moldova’s Anton Lehcun is not enough experienced in the international stage yet but he had the outstanding performance to beat Poland’s Tymur Tseben at the men’s 70kg weight class. Lukasz Zygula won the next Poland vs. Moldova battle in Kaunas, he controlled all of the three rounds in their meeting at the 75kg.
Finland’s Aapo Lehtonen had a close success against Lithuania’s Pijus Valiokas at the 80kg weight class which was a strong start for the youngster. Armenia’s Davit Simonyan had strong U19 results in the recent years and he demonstrated his strength against Switzerland’s Jordan Guzzo which delivered a quick stoppage at the 90kg.
Scotland’s next ace, Robert McNulty controlled all of the three rounds against Estonia’s Leon Karmas in the next 90kg bout of the day and he finished the session with perfect results for his nation. Lithuania’s Jonas Jazevicius, the multiple National Champion and international tournament winner, was too strong for Germany’s Ivan Bybliuk at the +90kg.