By Alexey Sukachev
The Russian amateur championships, presently one of the most important national tournaments in unpaid boxing, has finished on Saturday at the Winter Stadium in Pulkovo, several kilometers aside the huge city of St. Petersburg. The winners of the tournament will most likely constitute a roster of the Russian Team for the upcoming international tournaments and will be favorites in a long race for vacant spots in the Olympic Trials. The losers and those boxers, who failed to appear in Pulkovo this time (including such notables as Roman Romanchuk and two-time Olympic gold medalist Alexey Tishchenko), will have their last chances at 2011 Russian Nationals.
Results and Medals
Light Flyweight (49 kg)
David Ayrapetyan (Naro-Fominsk, 1983) – Belik Galanov (Obninsk, 1989) – 7:0
Many experts thought 2009 Russian champion Galanov would pose a significant threat to long-time national leader Ayrapetyan, who had himself replaced multichampion Sergey Kazakov several years ago. It turned out those experts were wrong, as experienced technician Ayrapetyan clearly outboxed bigger but rawer Galanov. Ayrapetyan is the 2004/2005/2006/2007 Russian and 2006 European champion
Bronze medals: Alexander Samoylov (Komsomolsk-na-Amure, 1987) and Dmitry Artiomkin (Serpukhov, 1989)
Flyweight (52 kg)
Misha Aloyan (Novosibirsk, 1988) – Georgiy Balakshin (Korolev/Sakha, 1980) – 5:1
In a clash between two best Russian (“super”) flyweights, younger Aloyan once again proved his superiority over aging 5-time national and 3-time European champion Balakshin, who is now in the twilight of his illustrious career. Aloyan is 2009 Russian and 2010 European champion, as well as 2008 World Cup winner.
Bronze medals: Vyacheslav Tashkarakov (Novosibirsk, 1984) and Vladimir Nikitin (Komi, 1990)
Bantamweight (56 kg)
Dmitry Polyanskiy (Belgorod, 1989) – Eduard Abzalimov (Chelyabinsk, 1984) – 4:1
A minor upset here as a young gun Polyanksiy became Russian national champion ahead of both favorites Eduard Abzalimov (3-time champion among students and 2010 European champion) and Sergey Vodopyanov (2007/2009 Russian, 2007 World champion), defeating both of them on his way up. Polyanskiy was a bronze medalist the last year.
Bronze medals: Vislan Dalkhaev (Hasavyurt, 1988) and Sergey Vodopyanov (Naro-Fominsk, 1987)
Lightweight (60 kg)
Ildar Vaganov (St. Petersburg, 1985) – Albert Selimov (Makhachkala, 1986) – 1:0
A major upset here, as little-known local boxer Ildar Vaganov soundly upset a prohibitive favorite Selimov in a tedious, yet tense fight. Selimov is a 2006/2007/2009 Russian, 2006/2010 European and 2007 World champion.
Bronze medals: Leonid Kostylev (Oktyabrskiy, 1989) and Maxim Dadashev (St. Petersburg, 1990)
Light Welterweight (64 kg)
Alexander Solyanikov (Chelyabinsk, 1982) – Maxim Ignatyev (Moscow, 1986) – 2:0
The score was even after two rounds but Solyanikov pressed the action during the last round to edge defensive wizard Ignatyev over two points. Some observers, however, thought Ignatyev deserved to be crowned as a winner as some of his efforts weren’t assessed properly. Ignatyev, on the other hand, came out as one of this tournament’s brightest sensations, defeating former top national Gennady Kovalyov and maybe the most talented Russian prospect P4P in Alexander Besputin on his way to the finals. Solyanikov is the 2009 Russian and 2010 European champion.
Bronze Medals: Avak Uzlyan (Kaliningrad, 1992) and Artiom Zaytsev (Zlatoust, 1988)
Welterweight (69 kg)
Andrey Zamkovoy (Naro-Fominsk, 1987) – Petr Khamukov (St. Petersburg, 1991) – 9:2
Zamkovoy was the 2009 Milano championship silver medalist.
Bronze medals: Sukhrab Shidaev (Khimki, 1986) and Magomed-Kamil Musaev (St. Petersburg, 1987)
Middleweight (75 kg)
Artyom Chebotaryev (Saratov, 1988) – Maxim Gazizov (Yekaterinburg, 1984) – 7:2
An undisputed leader of Russian middleweights (since Matvey Korobov and the Chudinov brothers turned pro in recent years) once again proved his superiority over the rest of Russian amateurs. Some considered 19-year old Dmitry Bivol, once a national/continental/world multichampion in junior competitions to be a serious threat but this tournament clearly wasn’t Bivol’s best as he was awarded a gift decision against Maxim Koptyakov in the quarterfinals and was defeated by Gazizov in semi-finals. Chebotaryev is the 2009 Russian and 2010 European champion.
Bronze medals: Dmitry Bivol (St. Petersburg, 1990) and Gamzat Gazaliyev (Naro-Fominsk, 1990)
Light heavyweight (81 kg)
Yegor Mekhontsev (Naro-Fominsk, 1984) – Nikita Ivanov (Tambov, 1986) – 3:1
A major change in this weight class, as once a heavyweight Mekhontsev stepped down in weight and swapped places with hard-hitting brawler Artur Beterbiyev, who has previously dominated this division both domestically and internationally. Mekhontsev debuted in a new weight class during this championship and collided with 2009 national champion Ivanov in the finals. Mekhontsev took his time in a dull opening round and began to use his reach advantage and better technique in the second. Ivanov tried to be an aggressor but bigger and more skillful Mekhontsev easily avoided any troubles though being less effective with his vast offensive arsenal. Mekhontsev is the 2008 Russian, 2009 world and 2010 European champion at heavyweight limit.
Bronze medals: Yevgeniy Tishchenko (Moscow, 1991) and Shamil Matashev (Avtury, 1990)
Heavyweight (91 kg)
Pavel Nikitayev (Pushkin, 1984) – Artur Beterbiyev (Grozny, 1985) – 12:3
In clearly the best fight of the tournament, little-known Pavel Nikitayev, battling in front of his partisan crowd, produced one of this tournament’s biggest upsets decisioning feared kayo artist Artur Beterbiyev in a dominant fashion. Beterbiyev, a smaller pugilist of this two, was making his debut in a new weight class after swapping places with Yegor Mekhontsev. He easily got into the finals and was its favorite… until the second round. The Grozny native easily took the first one rocking Nikitayev several times with his stone-hard combinations.
However, in the second stanza, Pabvel produced one of the finest comebacks in recent memory, moving a little bit outside and using his superior reach span and his size to stop Beterbiyev in his tracks. He then took the last round in brilliant fashion nailing Artur time and again to earn a wonderful victory. It’s worth noting, however, that judges were a little bit tough on Beterbiyev by not scoring some of his clear blows. Nikitayev scored his biggest win while Beterbiyev suffered his biggest setback recently. The Grozny native is the 2007 Russian, 2009 World and 2010 European champion.
Bronze medals: Sergey Kalchugin (Moscow, 1987) and Abdulkhamid Nurmagomedov (Tambov, 1987)
Super Heavyweight (91+ kg)
Sergey Kuzmin (St. Petersburg, 1987) – Vitaly Kudukhov (Moscow, 1989) – 5:0
Much bigger Kuzmin (visibly weighing around 280 pounds) showed a fascinating speed and reflexes (for his size) and ultimately dominated reluctant finalist Kudukhov to become the Russian champion for the first time. He was also 2010 European champion, defeating Italian stalwart Roberto Cammarelle on his way to the finals.
Bronze medals: Magomed Omarov (Kaspiysk, 1989) and Niyaz Fayzullin (Ufa, 1984)
