Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova and Georgia’s Luka Matchutadze defeated top-seeded opponents on day five of the European Elite Boxing Championships in Sofia on Monday, while eight boxers guaranteed medals in the men’s 70kg and 85kg divisions.
In the opening session, Kosovo’s world medallist and Olympian Donjeta Sadiku impressed against Russia’s Alina Pushkar in the women’s 60kg division. Sadiku established an early lead and maintained control through to the final bell, earning a 5:0 unanimous decision to reach the quarter-finals.
Georgia’s Luka Matchutadze produced one of the day’s biggest upsets, defeating France’s world silver medallist and men’s 80kg top seed Yojerlin Cesar by a 3:1 split decision. Matchutadze applied pressure from the opening minute, while the French southpaw sought to reorganise his defence and keep his opponent at distance. The Georgian maintained his challenge to secure a place in the last eight.
Türkiye’s Gizem Ozer overcame Poland’s Aneta Rygielska in a contest between two experienced Olympians at women’s 60kg. Rygielska pressed forward, but Ozer found her range and secured a 4:1 split-decision victory. She joined teammates Buse Naz Cakiroglu and Hatice Akbas, who had already reached the quarter-finals in their respective divisions.
Bulgaria’s Radoslav Rosenov opened his campaign with a convincing performance against Romania’s Andrei Valentin Gavae in the men’s 60kg division. The home favourite used his counter-attacking skills to establish a clear advantage and progressed with a 5:0 unanimous decision.
Ireland’s Jude Gallagher recovered from a slow start against France’s Lounes Hamraoui in the same division. Trailing on four judges’ scorecards after the opening round, Gallagher responded strongly in the second before securing a third-round stoppage to reach the quarter-finals.
Austria’s Lucky Osaro Aimufua also overturned an early deficit, defeating Spain’s Pablo Coy Bernal in the men’s 80kg round of 16. Aimufua increased his intensity after falling behind in the first round and finished strongly to earn a 3:0 points victory.
The evening session featured eight quarter-finals across the men’s 70kg and 85kg divisions, guaranteeing medals for boxers from Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France, Ireland and Russia.
In the women’s 57kg round of 16, England’s Elise Glynn faced another Olympic medallist after defeating Italy’s Irma Testa in her opening bout. Türkiye’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman took an early lead and, despite Glynn’s attempts to increase the pace, secured a 5:0 unanimous victory.
Yildiz Kahraman will meet Romania’s Lacramioara Perijoc in the quarter-finals after the former world silver medallist defeated Croatia’s Nikolina Cacic by the same margin.
Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova continued her successful return to international competition by defeating Poland’s Olympic silver medallist Julia Szeremeta in one of the evening’s most anticipated contests. Both boxers enjoyed strong moments, but Petrova did enough to secure a 4:1 split decision and a place in the women’s 57kg quarter-finals.
Hungary’s Vladislava Kukhta also advanced at 57kg, stopping Greece’s Panagiota Kouzilou in the third round. She will face France’s Amina Zidani, with a guaranteed medal at stake.
Russia’s Sergei Koldenkov secured his place on the men’s 70kg podium with a 5:0 unanimous victory over Spain’s Frank Martinez Bernad. In a contest between two southpaws, Koldenkov’s effective jab and strength helped him establish control.
He will face France’s Makan Traore in the semi-finals after Traore edged Ukraine’s Mark Lomakin by a 3:2 split decision. Azerbaijan’s Nabi Isgandarov and Ireland’s Jon McConnell completed the semi-final line-up with victories over Hungary’s Kalman Hanko and Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani, respectively.
France’s Junior Tadah guaranteed at least bronze in the men’s 85kg division after a closely contested quarter-final against Germany’s Valerij Walter. Walter responded well in the second round, but Tadah’s strong finish secured a 3:2 split-decision victory.
Russia’s Dmitrii Karmanov and Croatia’s Antonio Grabic also reached the last four, defeating Spain’s Adrian Fresneda Ricardo and Italy’s Marvin Ghilarducci, respectively.
Austria’s Michael Fares Derouiche completed the men’s 85kg semi-final line-up with a 5:0 unanimous victory over Moldova’s Andrei Chiriacov. After winning a historic world bronze medal for Austria in Liverpool last year, Derouicheis now guaranteed another podium finish in Sofia.
Today’s two sessions will take place at 13:30 and 18:00 local time. The schedule, live results and additional event information are available at bul.xboxing.world.
The entire competition will be livestreamed on https://eurovisionsport.com/en.
World Boxing will be posting updates throughout on its social media channels:
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Press release issued by European Boxing Federation and adapted by World Boxing.