The European Boxing Championships got underway in Sofia on Thursday, September 17, with morning and evening sessions opening nine days of competition.
The first day of competition included a win for Aryan Saed Panah from the World Boxing Refugee Team, while France’s Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist Billal Bennama made a winning return. The evening session brought a series of close contests at men’s 70kg.
Aryan Saed Panah, who trains in Spain, is representing the World Boxing Refugee Team at 90kg after moving up a weight class this year. Despite giving away size to Croatia’s Petar Leskur, he controlled much of the contest and used his power to good effect. Saed Panah claimed a 4:1 split decision to open the Refugee Team’s campaign with a victory.
France’s Billal Bennama, an Olympic silver medallist and European champion, returned to the national team this year with his sights set on Los Angeles 2028. Competing at 55kg, the 28-year-old started strongly against Georgia’s Gor Ayvazyan and used his longer range to secure the win.
Seven women’s 65kg bouts took place on the opening day. Croatia’s Sara Beram began well against Bulgaria’s Valeria Andreeva, who is new to the host nation’s elite team. The 31-year-old Croatian timed her advances to close the distance and took the lead on the judges’ scorecards after the first round.
Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan, who achieved strong results at junior and youth level, used her height advantage against Spain’s Mariana Soto Torres. She worked hard through the first two rounds to earn the victory.
Denmark’s Caroline Lauenborg, who impressed at the Golden Girl Box Cup in Sweden earlier this year, recovered from a slow start against Greece’s Despoina Makri. Behind after the first round, she judged the distance more effectively in the second and third to turn the bout around.
England’s Abdul-Rahman Burton stepped into the national team’s 55kg place for this event. The European U23 silver medallist started strongly against World Boxing Refugee Team boxer Omid Ahmadisafa, with the southpaw taking an early lead on the scorecards before securing victory.
Italy’s Tommaso Sciacca delivered a strong technical performance to defeat Sweden’s Paris Olympian Nebil Ibrahim at men’s 55kg.
Between the two sessions, the championships were officially opened at a ceremony attended by World Boxing President Gennadiy Golovkin. The opening brought together representatives of European Boxing and the Bulgarian Boxing Federation, alongside Bulgaria’s Minister of Youth and Sports and other boxing officials.
In the evening session, Spain’s Frank Martínez Bernad, Greece’s Zacharias Mylonas, Serbia’s Filip Dzida and Hungary’s Kalman Hanko all advanced from closely contested bouts.
European U22 silver medallist Frank Martínez Bernad faced England’s Patrick Hewitt at 70kg. The pair approached the opening round cautiously, but the pace rose in the second. Martínez Bernad found success with well-timed single punches as the bout developed.
Greece’s Zacharias Mylonas used his height to keep Albania’s Alban Beqiri at range for much of their contest. His approach paid off as he earned the win.
Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari looked to land his right hand against Serbia’s Filip Dzida. The Serbian defended well and responded with quick uppercuts and hooks when he closed the distance. He remained difficult to hit in the third round and advanced.
Hungary’s Kalman Hanko returned to international competition after several years away, having won his national championships two months ago. His bout with Romania’s Daniel Adrian Grigorie remained close throughout, with the third round proving decisive. Hanko edged a 3:2 split decision and dedicated the victory to his newborn daughter.
Two sessions will take place at 13:30 and 18:00 (CET) on Friday. The schedule, live results and additional event information can be found at https://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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LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-boxing
Press release issued by European Boxing Federation and adapted by World Boxing.