Afghanistan returned to the boxing map with the new Kabul Selection Tournament where 289 boxers competed for the 13 titles

Afghanistan had several political problems, civil war in the previous period but their boxers could attend in the Belgrade 2021 AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships. After eight months of break due to the Taliban regime, their National Boxing Federation could host a boxing event in the country, the Kabul Selection Tournament.

Elite male boxers were able to attend in the Kabul Selection Tournament which was a two-weeks long competition due to the high number of participants. Another event will be held in one of their regions soon and Afghanistan hosted seminars too, which are their first activities since August 2021.

The management of the Afghanistan Boxing Federation is working hard to keep boxing alive in the country and give chance to their boxers despite of the hard circumstances. The Afghan boxers attended in the Dubai 2021 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships last May and several of their boxers proved strong developments especially in strength, physical conditions, speed and punching power.

Altogether 289 boxers from all clubs of the Kabul province attended in the selection competition in the capital city. The best boxers from the Kabul Elite Selection Tournament can attend in the upcoming Afghanistan Elite National Boxing Championships which will be held later this year. All of the regions of the country can present their best elite boxers following the regional selections at the Afghanistan Elite National Boxing Championships.

The first winner of the Kabul Elite Selection Tournament was Rezvan Agha Azizi at the minimumweight (48kg) who defeated Rahim Rahimi in the first final of the competition. Masihullah Hamidi became the second winner of the competition after beating Mohammad Baqir in the final of the flyweight (51kg).

The smaller weight classes are always stronger in Afghanistan and their Sadullah Ghafouri impressed at the bantamweight (54kg), Farzad Nabizadeh at the featherweight (57kg) and Feroz Safi at the lightweight (60kg) earning the gold medals of these divisions. They defeated Mukhtar Ali Sadat, Parviz Qayyumi and Karim Rahimi in these final bouts.

Mesawer Kakar was one of the biggest talents in Afghanistan’s boxing in the middle of the 2010s who earned bronze medal at the Tashkent 2015 ASBC Asian Junior Boxing Championships. The currently 22-year-old boxer returned in the Kabul Elite Selection Tournament and defeated Abdulmajib Faisal at the light welterweight (63.5kg) winning the final by large margin of differences.

Seyed Javid Alizadeh defeated Akef Faisal in the final of the welterweight (67kg) and bagged the next title of the selection tournament. Farzad Ahmad Amiri and Yousef Gholzad both proved strong performance in the selection tournament in Kabul. Shokran Hotak came from a boxing family and won the title of the heavyweight (92kg) following his success over Shahrokh Chardiwal.

List of the elite winners in the Kabul Elite Selection Tournament
48kg: Rezvan Agha Azizi
51kg: Masihullah Hamidi
54kg: Sadullah Ghafouri
57kg: Farzad Nabizadeh
60kg: Feroz Safi
63.5kg: Mesawer Kakar
67kg: Seyed Javid Alizadeh
71kg: Farzad Ahmad Amiri
75kg: Yousef Gholzad
80kg: Obaidullah Mohammadzadeh
86kg: Bashir Ahmad Hajizadeh
92kg: Shokran Hotak
+92kg: Kamran Atlan

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