Natalia Shadrina, Riza Pasuit, Im Ae Ji, Jovan Nikolic and Oleksandr Khyzhniak were the stars of the finals at the 63rdBelgrade Winner Tournament in Obrenovac today.
The Belgrade Winner Tournament is one of the oldest international competitions in the entire world, next to the Strandja Memorial, the Bocskai Memorial, the Golden Gloves and the Bornemissza Tournament.
The President of World Boxing, the legendary Mr. Gennadiy Golovkin visited the finals of the Belgrade Winner Tournament together with Mr. Alimzhan Akayev and Mr. Tom Dielen.
The Belgrade Winner Tournament served the preparation for the upcoming major championships and more than 20 nations increased the level of the competition.
The bout of the day
The European Champion Jovan Nikolic and Almir Memic are Serbia’s two top boxers at the men’s 75kg who had another meeting after the National Championships. Nikolic caught his teammate near to the canvas in the first round and he had a very similar action in the second when he landed multiple shots. Nikolic invested all of his power to this final bout and he was able to keep the same rhythm until the last gong to made a revenge today.
The surprise of the day
Bulgaria’s Viktorio Iliev developed rapidly in the recent one and half year and the European U23 silver medallist started well against Armenia’s Andranik Martirosyan. The Armenian worked hard in the second part of their meeting and surprisingly he was able to turn back their men’s 65kg final.
The Round-Up
Turkey’s Nurselen Yalgettekin and Hungary’s Lilla Szeleczki met in the final of the European U23 Boxing Championships in Budapest six months ago. The Turkish boxer won that contest and she repeated that also in the first final of the 63rdBelgrade Winner Tournament. Yalgettekin was stronger in the exchanges today and she won the first and third rounds to take the gold medal in Serbia.
Bulgaria’s best female boxer, Zlatislava Chukanova and Serbia’s veteran Nina Radovanovic advanced to the final of the women’s 51kg weight class. Chukanova moved forward from the first seconds and she tried to keep the control of this final against the returning opponent, who competed mostly in the professional world. The Bulgarian had excellent footwork in the last round and she earned the title of the Belgrade Winner Tournament with confidence.
South Korea’s Paris Olympics bronze medallist Im Ae Ji and Turkey’s Nilay Yaren Cam joined the finals of the women’s 54kg weight category. The Korean southpaw landed excellent hooks from her safest distance and stopped most of the Turkish attacks and her nine years of international routine paid off today.
Philippines’ Riza Pasuit, the Thailand Open Tournament winner veteran, moved down to the 57kg weight category and she was confident in the previous stages of the Belgrade Winner Tournament. The Filipino overcame Turkey’s young Ece Asude Ediz in the attacks and she delivered her best performance with perfect timing in the final of the event.
Italy’s three-time Olympian Irma Testa and Serbia’s European Games silver medallist Natalia Shadrina both are among Europe’s stars in women’s boxing. Testa used the Belgrade Winner Tournament as a return to the international stage and she tried to keep Shadrina on long in the first and second rounds. The local athlete jumped into the best fighting range in the beginning of the third round and she won their excellent meeting at the women’s 60kg. The Italian will move back to the 57kg after the Belgrade Winner and she will compete in that usual category in the upcoming European Elite Boxing Championships.
Turkey’s Berfin Kabak won the recent Great Silk Way Tournament in Azerbaijan last month and she had an impressive performance also in the earlier stages of the Belgrade Winner. The powerful Turkish girl met Serbia’s Anastasija Lukajic in the final of the women’s 65kg which showed tiny differences between them. The younger Turkish boxer used her amazing strength to decide their tight final bout and she bagged the second gold medal for her homeland in Obrenovac.
Two of the top Serbians as Nikolina Gajic and Milena Matovic advanced to the finals of the women’s 70kg after their semi-final triumphs. Matovic joined the international boxing business in 2011 and she is in top shape once again therefore her efforts were enough to beat Gajic today. Spain’s newcomer in the national team, Alma Garcia dominated the 75kg final over Ukraine’s Yevheniia Bondarenko and she made a strong international debut.
South Korea’s experienced Seong Su Yeon achieved the second gold medal for the Asian country after beating Turkey’s Mihriban Guneri at the 80kg. Turkey’s next finalist, the Youth World Champion and the European U19 Champion Havvanur Kethuda dominated her women’s +80kg final against Serbia’s Sara Miljkovic.
Philippines’ Clark Vicera is only 19-year-old but the Asian U19 silver medallist proved the best performance on the road to the men’s 50kg final. He used his counter-attacking style of boxing against Turkey’s Salih Samet Oruc in all of the three rounds and he deserved to win the title of the smallest male weight category.
Serbia’s Artur Nagapetian is a small boxer at the men’s 55kg weight category but he had an aggressive style of boxing in the final against Ukraine’s European Youth Champion Maksym Zymenko. Nagapetian landed several tough punches from closer distance and his right-handed hooks were uncomfortable for the Ukrainian in the first and second rounds. The Serbian boxer did not make any huge risks in the third round and he celebrated his success in the front of the home crowd.
Kazakhstan’s Nurassyl Tulebek claimed a gold medal at the 2023 Junior World Boxing Championships and the 19-year-old boxer made a strong debut among the elite boxers at the Belgrade Winner. The Kazakh teenager felt the tempo well enough from the first round and Tulebek defeated Cuba’s World Championships competitor Luis Enrique Vinent unanimously at the 60kg final.
Kazakhstan’s Youth World silver medallist Nurbek Mursal and another U23 boxer, Montenegro’s Milos Roganovic made a fantastic show in the final of the men’s 70kg, especially in the second and third rounds. Montenegro’s best weapon in the men’s national team has done enough in the final seconds to take his next title after the Vllaznia Memorial Tournament.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak won the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Games and the European Championships during his career but he is still hungry for the next big title. The 31-year-old Ukrainian attacked more than 100-times in a round which was uncomfortable for his Turkish opponent, Mert Aybuga. Khyzhniak made a great comeback to the international stage and he won the men’s 80kg weight class easily.
Romania’s ex-Cuban Jorge Luis Mayeta exceeded the expectations in the final of the 85kg and he defeated Ukraine’s 10-years-older Danylo Zhasan. Cuba’s World Championships quarter-finalist Nelson Williams had a hard but successful battle against Kazakhstan’s Ibragim Betayev in the next 90kg final. Turkey’s Berat Acar won the heaviest weight class against Ukraine’s Vasyl Tkachuk in the event, which was the last bout of the entire Belgrade Winner Tournament.