Uzbekistan celebrates third place win in World Boxing Championships

MILAN — On September 12, the 15th World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy were concluded. Kazakhstan's national team experienced its greatest losses in eight years. But the Uzbek team performed exceptionally well, winning four medals and bronze for the team overall. Turkmen, Tajik and Kyrgyz boxers also competed in quarterfinal bouts.

The Russian national team came in first with eight medals, including two gold, four silver and two bronze. Italy came in second with two gold, and Cuba and Uzbekstan shared third place finishes with each taking a gold, a silver and two bronze medals.

Each team accumulated points: one for a victory prior to the semifinals, two for a win in the semifinals and three for a win in the finals. The top three points winners in Milan were therefore Russia with 53, Cuba with 33 and Uzbekistan with 32.

Uzbekistan’s Boxing Federation Director Daniyar Igrashev was delighted with his team’s performance, which earned them the same number of medals as the formidable Cuban team. Uzbekistan also came in ahead of Germany, the U.S. and its post-Soviet neighbours. Igrashev considers this evidence that the Soviet school of boxing is still the best in the world, and that the Uzbek victory in both amateur and professional leagues was to be expected.

Uzbek national team leader Abbos Atoyev became world champion in the under 75kg category for the second time in a row, defeating Armenia’s Andranik Akopian 9-0 in the finals. Uzbek Elshod Rasulov (81kg) just missed gold, losing to Russian Artur Beterbiyev 13-10. Two other Uzbeks, Bakhodyrdjon Sultanov (57kg) and Botyrzhon Makhmudov (69kg), were beaten in the semifinals and settled for bronze.

Of Kazakhstan’s boxers, only Sergey Sapiyev (69 kg) was able to reach the semifinals