Montenegro’s Milos Roganovic, Germany’s Omid Ahmadisafa, Hungary’s returning Roland Veres and England’s new super heavyweight sensation Clinton Achusim were the heroes of the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in Czechia on Day1.
The boxers will use this opportunity to prepare well to the next European Elite Boxing Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in Usti nad Labem.
Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and Wales registered their elite boxers to Usti nad Labem.
The bout of the day
Montenegro’s Milos Roganovic competed in the 2024 edition of the Youth World Boxing Championships but the 20-year-old youngster made an unexpected progress in the recent months. He won the Vllaznia Memorial in Albania and the Belgrade Winner Tournament in Serbia therefore Montenegro’s new pride looked confident against France’s Youth World bronze medallist Djamel Djemmal in their 70kg meeting. The French, who has just won the Portimao Box Cup, was not able to keep the same rhythm in all of the three rounds and Roganovic managed his path to the next stage in Usti nad Labem.
The surprises of the day
Omid Ahmadisafa received the German passport last year and he is very active in the international boxing map to accomplish his Olympic goals. The ex-Iranian boxer had a top opponent at the men’s 55kg weight category first, Philippines’ Asian U22 Champion Aaron Jude Bado but he shocked the Southeast Asian opponent in the first round and the ringside doctor stopped the bout.
England’s Clinton Achusim has just won their National Elite Championships this year but he is inexperienced in the international stage of boxing. The 25-year-old boxer not only kept the rhythm against France’s Olympics bronze medallist Djamili Dini Aboudou Moindze, but his athletic skills were enough to produce the main surprise of the day.
The Round-up
France’s Jeyssa Marcel impressed in the junior and youth competitions in the 2010s and she decided to return to her favourite sport after a break. The French boxer was outstanding in the first round against Germany’s Assia El Fachtali and she still increased her speed in the second. The 19-year-old German is a strong attacker but she could not repeat her previous performance in Usti nad Labem this time.
Slovakia’s Bibiana Lovasova achieved her first European Championships’ medal still as a junior in 2021 and she is now one of the aces of their elite national squad. The 21-year-old Slovakian dominated the first round against Germany’s Anna Klock and she took the lead on the judges’ scorecards. The German boxer proved better performance in the third round but Lovasova won their meeting at the women’s 57kg weight class.
The Czechs have got a fantastic women’s boxing team, their all-time best line-ups this year including European medallists and U19 Champions. Barbora Maxova will be only 20 but she had the strong performance in the first round against Germany’s Victoria Sawazki. The young Czech not only controlled their contest but the referee stopped this 60kg preliminary bout in the second round.
Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman is one of the stars of the Grand Prix and she is the gold medal favourite at the women’s 57kg. The Turkish boxer spent a lot of time in international training camps this year and she was better seconds by seconds against Germany’s Canan Tas. Turkey’s Olympic medallist was dominant in the third round and she had a comfortable victory in her opener in Usti nad Labem.
Hungary’s Roland Veres achieved a bronze medal at the 2022 edition of the European Elite Boxing in Yerevan and he almost qualified for the Paris Olympics. The Hungarian turned to professional last year but he returned to the Olympic boxing to chase his dream for Los Angeles. Veres had another tall opponent in the Round of 16 at the 60kg, but his routine was enough to beat Germany’s 19-year-old Mohamed Al Manouchi.