58th WMC Boxing – Moscow (RUS) – Finals
MOSCOW (RUS) - The 58th World Military Boxing Championship ended on Saturday 25 September with the final bouts at the VTB-Arena in Moscow. A total of 231 boxers from 36 countries, divided into ten weight categories for men and five for women, took part in the Moscow tournament.
The Russian delegation won the final medal standings (7 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze) ahead of Kazakhstan (3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) and Uzbekistan (3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze).
In the women's category, Russia took three gold medals with Ekaterina Paltseva's victory over Italy's Giordana Sorrentino in the Women's Fly (48-51 kg) final by unanimous decision. "To be honest, I am very tired. I can't say I'm satisfied with my actions in the final - I acted out of fatigue against a good and experienced opponent. I admit, I enjoyed boxing with her, in particular, I liked the way she fought. It's always fun to work with a thinking boxer. And again, I'm not happy with myself. Yes, I'm self-critical, but I don't see that as a bad quality - through this approach I'm growing. We have accomplished the task, but the coach and I still have a lot of plans: we have just entered the weight up to 51 kg. This is our joint victory," said Paltseva.
Her compatriot Daria Abramova followed suit moments later with an easy win over Mongolia's Bolortuul Tumurkhuyag in the Women's Feather (51-57kg).
"As always, I was unlucky with the draw, and after the tournament I was tired. We had a long preparation, and not all the battles were easy. It's psychologically difficult to get up to speed with every opponent. You had to find the Mongolian rival with one hand, she was very uncomfortable, clumsy, and you had to be careful with that kind of thing, because you could get hurt. The level of this world military championship is very high, and the participants are all worthy," said Abramova.
The last Russian women's gold medal was won by Saadat Dalgatova against Brazil's Barbara Maria dos Santos in the Women's Welter final (60-69kg).
Brazil's Beatriz Soares Ferreira, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, defeated Rios Ojeda Krisandi (VEN) in the Women's Lightweight (57-60kg) category. "I want to thank the organisers for giving me the opportunity to compete here. It is a great honour for me to represent Brazil and it is a great honour for me to return home with a complete mission," said Beatriz Soares Ferreira.
Uzbekistan's Mavluda Mavlonova triumphed in the women's medium category (69-75kg), beating Viktoria Kebikova (BLR).
In the men's category, four nations, Russia (4), Kazakhstan (3), Uzbekistan (2) and Belarus, shared the 10 gold medals of this 58th edition of the WMC Boxing.
The first Russian gold medal went to Dmitry Dvali after a long wait. The fight against the Kazakh Abdikadir was very close and the Kazakh was initially declared the winner on a judges' decision (3/2). Immediately after the fight, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation decided to lodge a protest which was heard by the refereeing commission of the World Military Championship which revised the result of the final fight in the Fly Men's category (52 kg) and declared the Russian Dvali Military World Champion.
In the Men's Bantam (56kg), Ovik Ogannisian of Russia won another gold medal for his country by defeating Enkh-Amar Kharkhuu of Mongolia. Russia's Ivan Stupin also put in a splendid performance by winning gold in the Men's Welterweight final (69kg) against Venezuela's Christian Palacio Medina. The last Russian gold medal of this championship was awarded to Radzhab Radzhabov, winner of the Men's Light Heavy (81kg) final against Algerian Mohammed Houmri.
Radzhab Radzhabov also praised the organisation of the World Military Championships in Moscow. "My Algerian opponent was very clumsy and kept his distance, and the final is always the most difficult fight, and I didn't really want to take any risks. I gave my best and did everything I could. It's good that at the tournament I had strong support, a lot of people came to cheer me on. The organising tournament is similar to the Russian championship - on a large scale, and the participants came together stronger".
Kazakhstan also showed its strengths during the championship by winning three military world titles. First, Temirtas Zhussupov defeated Brazil's Leanderso Conceicao Siqueira dos Sa in the Men's Light Fly (46-49kg) final. Two other Kazakh athletes managed to limit the Russian domination. Timur Nurseitov became Military World Champion following his victory over Russia's Aleksei Semykin in the Men's Middle (75kg) while Abzal Kuttybekov Abzal won the title against Russia's Ivan Agaidak in the Men's Heavy (91kg) final.
The Uzbek delegation was also honoured with two gold medals. In the Men's Super Heavy category (+91kg), Uzbek Lazizbek Mullojonov won the title after a tough fight against Russian Svetoslav Teterin while in Men's Light (60kg), Konstantin Opolsky (RUS) lost by split decision (2:3) against Uzbek Shunkor Abdurasulov. "I don't know why I didn't manage to win the gold," said Opolsky. "I had a very strong opponent. He is the winner of the Military World Games, we had a good fight, but somehow it didn't work out. I am very upset, but this is my first military world championship, and I am still young, I have everything ahead of me".
In Men's Light Welter (64kg), Dmitry Asanau defeated Uzbekistan's Mujibillo Tursunov to win the Belarus delegation's first gold medal of the tournament.
Colonel Jose Carlos Garcia-Verdugo, the Official CISM Representative for the event and a member of the Board of Directors, said: "It was an exceptional competition. Without a doubt, I can say that this championship was the event of the year. On behalf of CISM, I have the honour to salute and congratulate the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, the International Boxing Association, the Russian Boxing Federation and the Central Sports Club of the Army for this event. I would like to thank our soldiers gathered here for their dedication to sport and peace. Be sure that the world and CISM are really proud of you".
Colonel Hervé Piccirillo also said: "As President of CISM, the dissemination and propagation of the spirit of the military sports movement is the basis of my commitment. "Friendship through sport' is not only a motto but a way of looking at our involvement as members of the armed forces to develop peace and stability in the world. In this regard, I would like to express my deep gratitude and respect to the Russian delegation, AIBA, FRB and the officials of both federations for the organisation and management of the 58th World Military Boxing Championship in Moscow, Russian Federation. The level of professionalism and commitment required to organise such an event is undoubtedly extremely high. Therefore, I would like to thank AIBA and the RBF for their work and I sincerely hope that the collaboration between AIBA, the RBF and CISM will remain as productive as it is now for many years.”
(Source : Russian Delegation to CISM, CISM Media & Communication Department and AIBA)
