By Alexey Sukachev

Knowledge itself is power. With steadily rising concern of AIBA plans to intervene the professional boxing circuit, this year’s world amateur championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was not only the tourney to define currently the best crop of unpaid talent but also a chance to review AIBA’s power, strengths and weaknesses it aims to bring with itself into prizefighting.

1. AIBA has power to fill in some gaps and to overtake some niches in professional boxing right now. With monetary support and political influence it can overpower prize ring’s old authorities to a point of no-return in foreseeable future if the latter chose to operate on their own.

2. It won’t be salvation of any kind, AIBA bringing its darkest shadows and black eyes into the new territory. The sum of those is vastly more numerous and significant than the positive feedback of such a move.

17th world championship was weakened to a degree by the recent flux of the most talented amateur (including seven out of ten 2012 Olympic gold medalists with two more – Val Barker’s trophy owner Serik Sapiyev and Cuban star Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo – being absent for different reasons). A mixture of quality-lowering roster and power of Eastern European and Central Asian boxing states allowed AIBA to dictate its opinion through peculiar unfairness manifested mostly in tiny holdout and clear misjudging in the certain cases.

The second point is one, which turned a number of fans and boxers alike from the Olympic-style fighting. It’s hard to overcome mental punishment, taken from injustice outside the ropes, when you spend years of your best physical presence to be denied a well-deserved medal of desired quality. That was the case several times in Almaty, a former capital of a big ex-Soviet boxing power.

As always, a smell of home cooking was felt well as Kazakh boxers clearly dominated the medal sheet with eight medals (four golden, two silver and two bronze medals). It doesn’t state here that Team Kazakhstan doesn’t deserve the first place in overall standings. It does. Yet, some decisions in their favour were very questionable at the very least. On the other hands, local fighters also suffered from AIBA’s officials at least in one case. The same is true for the Azerbaijani team, although their luck was greater than that of many other states. The same is true for Brazil, while Cuban national team, which doesn’t get along well with the politics of checks and balances (or so it seems), was ostracized to a certain degree.

AIBA’s political power and dictate looks to get along well with a number of national federations, who didn’t file heated protests even in odious cases. It’s their right to do so, and they are free no to go on with complaints but it feels that this passive tactics (in hope of future preferences if there are any) works well for AIBA. A wide use of divide-and-rule tactics (willingly or accidentally induced by AIBA) helps the world amateur boxing federation to raise its power, to control the action in and outside the ropes but not within the hearts of boxing afficionados.

On a positive note, fighting without a headgear allows boxers to be showcased in much more friendly way than before. On the negative note, punch-softening gloves remain in place, lowering a number of knockouts. Judging has come back to ten-point must system but it doesn’t help much if judges are biased or don’t see the action the way they should.

Weight-by-weight

At light flyweight, #1 Birzhan Zhakypov came back into prominence eight years since his bronze medal at 2005 Mianyang championship. The Kazakh boxer experienced little problems during his route to the final, specifically after winning a hard collision over his toughest opponent Hasanboy Dusmatov from the neighboring state of Uzbekistan. Since then Zhakypov hasn’t been in deep waters, losing just one round on combined judges’ scorecards. With departure of Paddy Barnes, Kaew Pogprayoon and most importantly Zou Shiming, the second position was up for grabs, and Algerian Mohamed Flissi opted to take it over.

Birzhan Zhakypov (KAZ, #1) – Mohamed Flissi (ALG) – 3:0 (30:27, 30:27. 29:28)

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#1 and #2 flyweights Andrew Selby and Misha Aloyan marched confidently to the flyweight final up until the quarterfinal, when Selby got some extra luck against local boy Ilyas Suleymenov with a controversial win. His payback time was in semifinal, when he was soundly defeated by Uzbek Jasourbek Latipov, the biggest sensation in this weight class, who has previously got the rid of experienced Irishman Paddy Barnes, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, who was debuting in a new weight class.
Aloyan, meanwhile, was moving well, not losing many points on the judges’ scorecards. The final proved to be a hard point for the Russian fighter, however. Latipov started rapidly, forcing the Russian to work defensively. Aloyan exploded in the second with multiple series and finally overpowered Latipov in the third to get a come-from-behind win. Aloyan has now two golden (2011 and 2013) and one bronze medal (2009) of WC’s in addition to his 2012 Olympic bronze medal.

Misha Aloyan (RUS, #2) – Jasourbek Latypov (UZB, #4) – 2:1 (29:28, 29:28, 28:29)

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2012 Olympic flyweight gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez Carranza failed to impress in his bantamweight debit (123lb gold medalist Luke Campbell has moved to the pro ranks). Ramirez was doing well up until the quarterfinal, when he was matched up with a straight-up local brawler Kairat Yeraliev. In an even fight, the latter took the edge with the judges to enter the semifinals.

It was when two notable scandals marred an entire outcome of this weight class. Firstly, Yeraliev was eliminated in what seemed to be a one-sided win for him against Azerbaijani Jawid Chalabiyev, creating ouches and aches alongside boos and curses amongst partisan crowd. Then the last remnant of Ukrainian golden team, which dominated amateur boxing in 2011 and 2012, Mykola Butsenko was dubiously defeated by the Russian Vladimir Nikitin. The final between two undeserved finalists wasn’t without controversy too, as more than one thought that the Russian deserved the win. As for BoxingScene, its card read as 29:29 – a draw.

Jawid Chalabiyev (AZE) – Vladimir Nikitin (RUS, #10) – 3:0 (30:27, 29:28, 29:28)

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2009 gold and 2007 silver lightweight medalist Domenico Valentino, the Italian veteran, who has been unlucky at the Olympic circuit, added his third career WC’s bronze medal (he took the third place at 2005 and 2011 WC’s). Valentino was given a lucky pass by judges in his bout with Elvin Isayev but was outworked and defeated by Brazilian Robson Conceicao.

In a lower part of the scheme, Lazaro Estrada scored a close win over Kazakhstani Berik Abdrakhmanov to enter the finals. In the final, the Cuban newest star boxed confidently against the free-swinging Brazilian and used his superior technique to get a well-deserved victory, one of a few for the Cuban squad.

Lazaro Estrada (CUB) – Robson Conceicao (BRA, #4) – 3:0 (30:27, 29:28, 29:28)

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At light welterweight limit, semifinals defined the most deserved fighters of the weight class without even a shadow of controversy. Both higher-seeded fighters - #1 Brazilian (2011 gold medal winner) Everton Lopes and #2 Mongol Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg (2012 Olympic gold medalist) had a hard road going in, with Uranchimeg looking far from his best shape, and Lopes being lucky to get a pass versus hard-charging Evaldas Petrauskas.

In the semifinals both were eliminated by better-equipped fighters – Merey Akshalov and Yasnier Lopez. Akshalov was a quiet hero of the Kazakh team, which he proved with a deserved win in the final. Akshalov dominated the first two rounds to allow himself a quiet end against willing but not so capable Cuban in the third.

Merey Akshalov (KAZ, #5) – Yasnier Lopez (CUB) – 3:0 (29:28, 29:28, 29:28)

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Light welterweight Olympic gold medalist and arguably the best active amateur fighter P4P Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo of Cuba wasn’t allowed to take part in the competition (at a new weight class), being feared by the Cuban authorities to defect if out from the Island of Freedom (which turned into virtual slavery for its best boxing representatives). 2012 welterweight champion Serik Sapiyev has finished his fabulous career, leaving a spot widely opened.

A number of pretenders were in place with 2012 silver medal winner Freddie Evans leading the chart. Unfortunately for Team Wales, Evans was far from his peak in Almaty, being given two questionable wins before being defeated by Araik Marutjan of Germany. #2 Marvin Cabrera, meanwhile, was eliminated already in a round of 16. After the smoke and fog settled down, another Cuba vs. Kazakhstan couple was formed.

In the golden match-up, Daniyar Yeleussinov was way better than big-profile debutant Despaigne, schooling him to an easy win, while combining big power, fan-friendly style and great technique.

Daniyar Yeleussinov (KAZ, #4) – Arisnoidys Despaigne (CUB) – 3:0 (30:27, 30:27, 29:28)

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Artem Chebotarev’s road to the final seemed to be set, when he induced fear and awe in hearts of his opponents, smashing three of four of his opponents with quick stoppages (a very rare occurrence in modern amateur boxing) and defeating #1 rated London silver medalist Falcao of Brazil. Chebotarev also looked to be a front-runner for the best fighter award. All until he ran into the Irishman Jason Quigley, who has improved his shape greatly as the tourney progressed.

Meeting Quigley in the final was a rugged slugger Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, who got a walkover when his semifinal opponent Anthony Fowler withdrew with an injured hand. Alimkhanuly was also on a right edge of one of bigger Almaty robberies, when he was given a gift decision versus unlucky loser Bogdan Juratoni of Romania in the quarterfinal.

There was no controversy in the final. Alimkhanuly dropped Quigley perfectly with the right in the first and cruised to a deserved win over three rounds, making it 4 of 4 for his national team.

Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (KAZ, #6) – Jason Quigley (IRL, #5) – 3:0 (30:27, 30:27, 29:28)

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In the most predictable final, two highest-rated light heavyweights collided in a bid to define the best. Both Kazakh Niyazymbetov and Cuban Peraza went quietly to the final, scoring wide wins over their previous opponent.

Hard-hitting London silver medalist Niyazymbetov looked to be a favorite but the Cuban upset the odds by winning over him handily, though with a split decision.

Julio de la Cruz Peraza (CUB, #2) – Adilbek Niyazymbetov (KAZ, #1) – 2:1 (30:27, 29:28, 28:29)

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At 31, Italian veteran Clemente Russo is still at his best. The two-time (2008 and 2012) Olympic silver medalist doesn’t possess a fan-friendly style but his boxing, with a bit of clinching, hugging and moving works perfectly well for the amateurs. Russo easily outboxed Russian Tischenko in the final, despite a big disadvantage in physical tools and size. Russo just moved in and out, using his upper body movement and jabs to keep the Russian at bay for an entire contest (although Tischenko was awarded the last round on the official cards). Russo was awarded by no other than Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin.

Sadly, Russo’s deserved win was marred with a major scandal in the quarterfinals, when #1 seeded Azerbaijani Teymur Mammadov was awarded a highway robbery-decision against young Cuban Erislandy Savon, arguably the best heavyweight in the tourney. Mammadov was then defeated by Russo but the question remains, who the best fighter in this weight class was.

Clemente Russo (ITA, #4) – Evgueny Tischenko (RUS) – 3:0 (29:28, 29:28, 29:28)

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The tourney ended with a bang and with a win, which by far outweighed all the negative emotions of the tournament. It was when #1 seeded heavyweight Magomedrasul Medzhidov, 2011 Baku gold medalist and a true one-punch knockout artist, while far behind on the judges’ scorecards after two rounds, pulverized local favorite Ivan Dychko with a chilling right hand, putting him down heavily at the end of the first minute of round three. Dychko barely got up only to be stopped within seconds after another right-left combo by Medzhidov.

That was a great and well-deserved win over the Azeri veteran, who overcame American Lenroy Thompson (also known as Cam F. Awesome), Russian Magomed Omarov and Italian multichampion (2008 Olympic and 2009/2011 world champion) Roberto Cammarelle en route to his final win over talented but unstable Dychko.
Medzhidov will also be agreat addition to the pro game alongside such fighters as Petrauskas, Yeleussinov, Yeraliev, Aloyan, Alimkhanuly and Chebotarev.

Magomedrasul Medzhidov (AZE, #1) – Ivan Dychko (KAZ, #2) – KO 3 (1:01)

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At the end, Team Kazakhstan got an overall win in team competitions, getting 4-2-2 in medals. Cuba is placed #2 (2-2-1); Azerbaijani fighters are in the third place (2-0-1), Russia is fourth (1-2-1) and Italy is the fifth (1-0-2).