Kazakhstan wins four medals in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament

Kazakhstan’s men’s elite boxers competed in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament in Debrecen, Hungary which is located in the Eastern part of the country. Their squad claimed one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the strong competition where 128 men and 19 women boxers from 20 countries attended.
Bocskai Memorial Tournament is a traditional competition in the world’s boxing map and the new edition was the 61st in Debrecen. The six-strong Kazakh team achieved four medals in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament in Hungary and only their light welterweight (64kg) National Champion Bekdaulet Ibragimov and 19-year-old Nurlan Saparbay could not advance to the last four in Debrecen.
Kazakhstan’s gold medal in Debrecen was achieved by their National Championships silver medallist experienced boxer Yerik Alzhanov. The 25-year-old middleweight (75kg) boxer defeated Belarus’ Andrei Mikhailov, China’s Wen Yinhang, Turkey’s Birol Aygun and walked over to the title against Russia’s National Champion Andrei Kovalchuk. Alzhanov is No.2 in Kazakhstan at the middleweight (75kg) just behind their current National Champion Abilkhan Amankul who has got also perfect record in the World Series of Boxing.
Shaimurat Kusainov is a continuous competitor at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament who defeated Czech Republic’s Martin Podlucky, Georgia’s Rati Tlashadze and Slovakia’s Jan Dzanaj in the road to the final at the light heavyweight (81kg). The 23-year-old Kazakh boxer had to meet in the final with Russia’s National Champion Georgiy Kushitashvili but he did not find the best fighting distance and secured silver in Debrecen.
Kazakhstan’s two-time National Champion Azat Makhmetov won the gold medal in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament a few years ago and returned to Debrecen as favourite of the flyweight (52kg). The 25-year-old technician boxer defeated his Polish and English rivals and lost to only Hungary’s teenage talent eventual winner Istvan Szaka in the semi-final but his bronze is also a strong performance.
Kazakhstan’s fourth medal was delivered by 20-year-old Ilya Ochkin who had successful year as youth boxer in 2014. The welterweight (69kg) talent eliminated Kosovo’s Besart Kurhaski and Hungary’s Andras Vadasz in the road to the semi-finals where he lost to eventual winner Iaroslav Samofalov of Ukraine.