Erkinboyev and Ummataliyev made successful debuts among the elite boxers
There were strong Asian dominance at the 75th edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria during the fourth competition day. The Uzbeks teenagers, Fazliddin Erkinboyev and Javokhir Ummataliyev both made their debuts in the elite age groups in the evening session successfully.
Altogether 83 women and 178 men boxers are participating in the new edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament in six female and 13 male weight categories.
The traditional event will be a great opportunity to prepare actively before the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event. The 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event will take place in Busto Arsizio, North Italy between February 29 and March 13.
Algeria, Armenia, Austria, host Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, India, Iran, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan are the participating 28 countries in Sofia.
India’s Amit Panghal had to miss the recent Asian Games where he would be a titleholder but he won the National Championships and returned to the international stage of boxing. The Indian was aggressive in his bout on Day4 and he triumphed over Ukraine’s Maksym Rudyk with excellent performance.
Mongolia’s Aldarkhishig Battulga is not an experienced flyweight (51kg) boxer in the national team yet, but he exceeded all of the expectations in the fourth day of boxing. The Mongolian controlled his bout against Algeria’s experienced Mohamed Elamine Moziane and he joined the next round.
The next Mongolian in this strong flyweight (51kg), the former Asian Games silver medallist Gan-Erdene Gankhuyag eliminated a new Tajik rival, Mekhron Shafiyev by 4:1 split decision. Among the powerful Asians in this weight class, Uzbekistan’s Asian U22 Champion Asilbek Jalilov and Iran’s Mostafa Rigi both bowed out their European rivals.
Kazakhstan’s minimumweight (48kg) World Champion, Sanzhar Tashkenbay, joined the flyweight (51kg) in the previous months and he showed his extraordinary technical in Sofia as well. He was untouchable for Kyrgyzstan’s teenager Bekzat Ergeshov and he looked as a teacher in the ring on Day4.
Iran’s Meysam Gheslaghi, the 2021 Asian Championships silver medallist, moved back to the light heavyweight (80kg) and he dominated his first contest in Sofia. The Iranian was never stopped attacking and his pressure meant that he eliminated Lithuania’s Robertas Liorancas in a one-sided bout.
Uzbekistan’s former World silver medallist Ikboljon Kholdarov was strong enough to beat Mongolia’s Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdene at the light middleweight (71kg). China’s Asian Games winner Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan and Kazakhstan’s former Asian Champion Tursynbay Kulakhmet both won their contests on Day4.
Uzbekistan sent two fantastic teenagers to the Strandja Memorial Tournament, the Youth World Champion Fazliddin Erkinboyev (75kg) and Javokhir Ummataliyev (80kg) who both joined the elite competitions only this January. Despite their debuts in the elite age group, both Uzbeks dominated their first challenges in Sofia.
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