The Boxam Elite Tournament opened with 46 preliminary contests in La Nucia, Alicante region in the first day of boxing. Ukraine’s Bozorboy Matyakubov won the tightest bout of the day but Canada’s surprise winner Gabriel Aly Labrie and Luxembourg’s Benik Melkumian also had strong start on Day1.
Altogether 90 women and 124 men boxers from 21 nations and four continents are participating for the 20 available titles in Spain’s boxing city.
The bout of the day
Ukraine’s Bozorboy Matyakubov and Scotland’s Sonny Kerr amazed all of the experts and the crowd in their preliminary bout at the men’s 70kg on Day1. Both are members of the next generations and they impressed already in the first round, landing several punches. The Scottish tried to keep the Ukrainian on long but Matyakubov had the speed to do his own game play. The Ukrainian, who was born in the Uzbek city of Urgench, had the physical skills in the third round to win the closest bout of the day.
The surprise of the day
Canada’s Gabriel Aly Labrie had only 52 contests before the start of the Boxam Tournament but he shocked his experienced opponent from Kazakhstan, Sanatali Toltayev in the first round. The Canadian was quicker in the exchanges and he looked well-motivated against a top Central Asian boxer who began his international career back in 2014. Labrie, who began boxing only in 2018, worked well enough in their entire bout to deliver the biggest surprise of the first competition day.
The Round-up
Netherlands’ Youth World bronze medallist Gabriella Weerheim is relatively small at the women’s 57kg weight class but she is an aggressive boxer with continuous attacks. She put Kazakhstan’s Shakhnaz Issayeva under pressure from the first seconds and her second and third rounds guaranteed the success against a taller opponent.
Ukraine’s Tetiana Dovhal was a silver medallist at the 2022 edition of the Youth World Boxing Championships and she returned to La Nucia with upgraded technical skills. She had a tight first and second rounds against France’s Lisa Nouiceur but the 22-year-old Ukrainian gave in everything in the third to decide their 60kg meeting.
Netherlands’ next female sensation, the Youth World Champion Maud Van der Toorn had some difficulties in the first round against Kazakhstan’s Ayazhan Yermek, a teenage hopeful in their national team. The 18-year-old Kazakh was effective in the exchanges in the first round but Van der Toorn turned up the heat in the second and she found the winning strategy in time in their 60kg bout.
Czechia’s Viktorie Jilkova is the current European U19 Champion at the women’s 65kg weight class and she joined the elite age group this January. The Czech teenager tried to use her longer reach than the Ukrainian opponent, Maryna Shevchenko and she had a tight advantage on the judges’ scorecards after one round. The referee counted the Ukrainian in the second round and the 18-year-old Czech deserved to win her first contest in La Nucia.
The ex-French boxer, Benik Melkumian finally received his new passport in Luxembourg and he travelled to the Boxam to compete against the best of the bests. Luxembourg’s new pride had a powerful opening round against Canada’s Fuzayl Rakhimov but both boxers had similar technical and tactical skills. Melkumian had the stamina in the third round to beat the Canadian and he marched to the next round at the men’s 60kg.
England’s Jack Dryden competed at the 2023 European Games and he worked hard in the recent years to reach the level of the top boxers. The English boxer kept the focus in all of the three rounds against a speedy Kazakh, Daulet Moldashev and he celebrated a tight 3:2 success over a favourite rival.
Spain’s Paris Olympian and European U22 Champion Oier Ibarreche always had tough first fights in his competitions and he was not enough shape against Belgium’s Bruxelles Capital Tournament winner Rasul Tisayev in the opener. The Spaniard was more confident from the second round but the younger Belgian was highly competitive in their preliminary contest.
The quote of the day
“We had the right strategy against the Kazakh girl, I tried to work from close distance and do my best in the corners. She looked tired at the end and I am happy to win my first contest in this strong Boxam,” said Netherlands’ Gabriella Weerheim after the contest.