By Alexey Sukachev
European amateur boxing championship, which started a week ago in the Belarussian capital of Minsk, has come to an end tonight at the Minsk Palace of Sports. The tournament's final turned into a virtual showdown between national teams of Ireland (4 boxers in the finals) and Russia (6 boxers in the finals), and the Russian team became the huge winner, taking exactly a half of the contested medals.
The only Russian to lose in the finals was super heavyweight Sergey Kuzmin. The bulky aggressor was too vulnerable defensively and lost the first on jabs. He came back strong in the second, wobbling 2011 WC champion Medzhidov, but clearly lost the final round to a better conditioned Azerbaijani, who rocked him bad at the end of the first minute, so Kuzmin was lucky to survive till the belt without any knockdowns issued.
Russia's sweet revenge was at the heavyweight limit, where relatively unknown kayo master Alexey Yegorov dropped #1 ranked Teymur Mammadov twice en route to the second-round TKO. Russian fighters also prevailed in three more weight classes:
Alexander Besputin and Nikita Ivanov won hard-fought battles, whilst Armen Zakaryan left his Moldovan opponent almost no chances at all. David Ayrapetyan, a key player at the world's light flyweight class for about ten years, won his final on a walkover, when his Irish bitter rival Paddy Barnes fialed to show up this time.
Team Ireland also lost Michael Conlan in a very hard-fought competition with #1-rated Welshman Andrew Selby, but got two gold medals – thanks to John Joe Nevin and Jason Quigley, arguably the championship's biggest surprise, who upset #1 ranked WC champion Evgueny Khytrov in the semifinal. Team Ukraine this time was on the receiving end rather than on the puncher's. With its best amateurs, led by legendary Vasyl Lomachenko and Olexander Usyk, concentrating on the World Series of Boxing by AIBA, and Taras Shelestyuk turning pro at the States, Ukraine earned its only gold medal by Pavlo Ischenko, who prevented the home team of Belarus from getting any top honours.
108 lbs
Finals:
David Ayrapetyan (Russia, #1 seeded) – Paddy Barnes (Ireland, #2) – WO (Walkover)
Semifinals:
David Ayrapetyan (Russia, #1 ) – Jack Bateson (England) – 3:0
Paddy Barnes (Ireland, #2) – Salman Alizade (Azerbaijan, #3) – 3:0
114 lbs
Finals:
Andrew Selby (Wales, #1) – Michael Conlan (Ireland, #2) – 2:1 (28:29, 29:28, 30:27)
Semifinals:
Andrew Selby (Wales, #1) – Elvin Mamishzade (Azerbaijan, #4) – 2:1
Michael Conlan (Ireland, #2) – Ovik Oganesyan (Russia) – 2:1
123 lbs
Finals:
John Joe Nevin (Ireland, #1) - Butsenko (Ukraine) – 3:0 (30:27, 29:28, 29:28)
Semifinals:
John Joe Nevin (Ireland, #1) – Vladimir Nikitin (Russia) – 3:0
Mykola Butsenko (Ukraine) – Aram Avagian (Armenia) – 2:1
132 lbs
Finals:
Pavlo Ischenko (Ukraine) – Vazgen Safaryants (Belarus) – 2:0 (29:28, 29:28, 28:28)
Semifinals:
Pavlo Ischenko (Ukraine) – Dmitry Polyanskiy (Russia) – 2:1
Vazgen Safaryants (Belarus) – Miklos Varga (Hungary, #2) – 3:0
141 lbs
Finals:
Armen Zakaryan (Russia) – Dmitry Galagot (Moldova) – 3:0 (30:26, 30:27, 30:27)
Semifinals:
Armen Zakaryan (Russia) – Abdelmalik Ladjali (France) – 3:0
Dmitry Galagot (Moldova) – Artem Harutunyan (Germany) – 2:1
152 lbs
Finals:
Alexander Besputin (Russia) – Araik Marutyan (Armenia) – 3:0 (30:27, 29:28, 29:28)
Semifinals:
Alexander Besputin (Russia) – Bogdan Shelestyuk (Ukraine, #1) – 3:0
Araik Marutyan (Armenia) – Pavel Kostromin (Belarus) – 2:1
165 lbs
Finals:
Jason Quigley (Ireland) – Bogdan Juratoni (Romania, #2) – 2:1 (30:27, 29:28, 28:29)
Semifinals:
Jason Quigley (Ireland) – Evgueny Khytrov (Ukraine) – 3:0
Bogdan Juratoni (Romania, #2) – Zoltan Harcsa (Hungary, #3) – TKO 2 (0:48)
181 lbs
Finals:
Nikita Ivanov (Russia, #2) – Peter Mullenberg (Netherlands) – 3:0 (30:27, 30:27, 29:28)
Semifinals:
Peter Mullenberg (Netherlands) – Piotr Ciobanu (Moldova) – 3:0
Nikita Ivanov (Russia, #2) – Sergey Novikov (Belarus) – WO
201 lbs
Finals:
Alexey Egorov (Russia) – Teymur Mammadov (Azerbaijan, #1) – TKO 2 (2:16)
Semifinals:
Teymur Mammadov (Azerbaijan, #1) – Denis Poyatsyka (Ukraine, #4) – 3:0
Alexey Egorov (Russia) – Emir Ahmatovic (Germany) – 3:0
201+ lbs
Finals:
Magomedrasul Medzhidov (Azerbaijan, #1) – Sergey Kuzmin (Russia) – 2:1 (29:28, 29:28, 29:28)
Semifinals:
Magomedrasul Medzhidov (Azerbaijan, #1) – Victor Zuyev (Belarus) – WO
Sergey Kuzmin (Russia) – Joseph Joyce (England) – TKO 1 (0:49)
