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In another busy weekend for the World Boxing Federation, Women’s World Bantamweight Champion Renata Szebeledi retained her title and Attila Baran captured the vacant Intercontinental Super Middleweight crown in Hungary Saturday night, while Klara Svensson took home the female ditto at Light Welter on a show in Germany the day before.

Szebeledi, who won the WBF World title by going to Germany to defeat hometown favorite Pia Mazelanik in Lemgo last July, took on former foe Eva Marcu of Romania in Budapest, and once again the two women, both only twenty years old, gave each other a good scrap before the champion pulled home the victory.

The end came at 0:30 into round number eight when Szebeledi, at this point clearly on top of things, caught Marcu with some stinging blows, forcing the referee to intervene as the game Marcu seemed unable to defend herself. Having won ten of her last eleven bouts, Szebeledi improved her professional record to 16-9 (9), and Marcu fell to 7-4 (2).

On the same card, promoted by Feja Promotion, youngster Attila Baran (19) made short work of fellow countryman Janos Olah in their fight for the Intercontinental Super Middleweight strap. After a one-sided first round where Baran dominated his foe, the end came mercifully in the second of the scheduled twelve.

Baran put on an impressive performance, knocking down Olaf two times before referee Janos Baranyi had seen enough and waved off the onslaught at 2:55. In time, Baran, who is now 10-2 (5), could be an interesting name to follow, while the best days of 30-year-old Olah, 10-9-1 (3), are probably in his past.

On the previous night in Goeppingen, Germany, talented Swede Klara Svensson won her first professional title when she thoroughly dominated game but outclassed Hungarian Zsofia Bedo on a card put on by EC Boxpromotion for the vacant Women’s Intercontinental Light Welterweight title.

Svensson, now 5-0 (1) and managed by former European Champion Oktay Urkal, chased Bedo, 5-25-1 (1), for most of the ten rounder, and only guts and a big heart saved the Hungarian girl from going down or even being stopped. It was a flawless performance by the Malmo-boxer, who, if anything, lacks a bit of power in her punches.   In the end German judges Arno Pokrandt, Frank Michael Mass and Holger Wiemann all scored it the same: 100-90. Klara Svensson is undoubtedly one of the female stars of the future.

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By Michael O’Neill

13.05.2012

7th AIBA Women’s World Championships

Report: Day 3

Today saw the first appearance  of  ‘ Magnificent Mary’ , at flyweight, at the 7^th AIBA World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao as Indian ‘living legend’ and five times AIBA World Champion  Chungneijang Mary Kom  Hmangte came face to face with Japan’s Asian championships bronze medallist ,Ayako Minowa.

In truth it was a one sided encounter  since Mary won their bout as easily as the 20:9 judges verdict suggests.  She now meets Norway’s European Championships quarter-finalist 22-year-old Marielle Hansen.  Marielle is ‘one for the future’ but it will be a major shock if she defeats  Mary Kom.

The United States maintained their 100 percent record  when US National Olympic Trials winner and AIBA Women’s World Championships bronze medallist Marlen Esparza defeated Argentina’s multiple Pan-American Champion Pamela  Paola  Benavides 20:10 . Next up for Esparza , is Vietnam’s 19-year-old Luu Thi Duyen .

The no. 1 seed was also in action Sunday when two-time AIBA World Champion and Asian Games titleholder, Ren Cancan from China  scored an impressive  16 : 4 win in front of her home fans  as  she eliminated Hungary’s EU Championships silver medallist Katalin Ancsin ,also at flyweight.

For Russia,  Elena Savelyeva  was another who  won with something to spare when she met and defeated Chinese Taipei’s Pin Meng Chieh. As the bell tolled at end of round two Savelyeva led by 12:7 and she continued to dominate to the end against a gallant but overwhelmed Asian rival, 19:8 being the declared score.

Victory  also for Ireland’s Ceire Smith, who boxes out of the Cavan BC under trainer Brian McKeown. This was the 20 years old‘s second win in two days as she overcame Jamaica’s Sarah-Joy  Rae 12:4. In the Irish corner today were Peter Taylor – coach and father of Katie – and Zuar Antia and certainly Ceire carried out their instructions to the letter.

The number two seed in this weight division is Great Britain’s Nicola Adams and she too had an impressive second victory of the tournament overcoming Bulgaria’s Yana Levankova 19:7. Adams again demonstrated why she is one of the favourites  for the title and now meets Venezuela’s Pan-American Champion Karla Magliocco in the last 16.

Astana International Tournament winner Azize Nimani  was born in Kosovo but is fighting for Germany in the Olympic flyweight class. The 21-year-old  won each of her contests until the 2010 AIBA Women’s World Championships in Bridgetown where she lost her first ever bout. Nimani continued her excellent winning series in Qinhuangdao as well where she turned back the fight against a favourite, Finland’s AIBA World Championships bronze medallist experienced Hanne Maekinen.

European Championships silver medallist Sarah Ourahmoune is a member of the French national squad since 2001 and these experiences resulted to her a victory over Ukraine’s former European Champion Tatyana Kob. The 30-year-old French boxer dominated the fight and advanced to the last 16 eliminating her seeded opponent.

Bulgaria’s European Championships bronze medallist and EU Champion Stoyka Petrova is on the right way to the London Olympic Games. She has eliminated a strong Asian rival, Thailand’s Peamwilai Laopeam in the first round and following that success, Petrova triumphed over Italy’s best hope, Valeria Calabrese in the next round.

France’s EU Championships silver medallist 25-year-old Delphine Mancini who is member of the national team since 2005, shocked the Turkish ringside and fans in Qinhuangdao. The French bantamweight boxer controlled her opening fight against Turkey’s European Championships bronze medallist strong Ayse Tas and had six points advantage before the final gong. The Istanbul-based Turkish boxer tried to turn back the fight and made an incredible last round but her efforts were not enough to win the bout therefore Mancini eliminated the Seed No.1.

Poland’s European Championships silver medallist Sandra Drabik could not secure her place in the Olympic flyweight class therefore she has decided to move up into the bantamweight division. The powerful Polish boxer did not give too many chances to Afghanistan’s Dushanbe International Tournament silver medallist Sadaf Rahimi and the referee stopped their unequal contest very quickly.

In the light flyweight division China’s President’s Cup winner 20-year-old Xu Shiqi who replaced Luo Yujie just before the tournament, started her competition and saved the host nation’s perfect balance. The young Chinese boxer outpointed Sweden’s Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament silver medallist Elin Roennlund in the first round and finally she could celebrate her advance winning the bout by 12:5. Xu Shiqi’s next opponent will be Wales’ European Championships silver medallist Lynsey Holdaway who was seeded as No.1.

Romania’s European Championships silver medallist Lidia Ion moved down into the light flyweight class following her loss at the National Cup in the Olympic 51kg. The experienced boxer had to use up all of her skills to beat Tajikistan’s 22-year-old Matluba Karimova who had less international contests in her career.

Poland’s former European Youth Champion 20-year-old Magdalena Stelmach’s skills and boxing knowledge extremely developed in the last one year therefore her great show against Venezuela’s Nurys Silvera was not a surprise. The referee stopped the contest in the third round when Stelmach led by 15:3 against her South American opponent.

Russia’s former European Youth Champion 22-year-old Daria Abramova secured the right at the very first time to represent her strong nation in Qinhuangdao. Her first rival was France’s European Championships quarter-finalist Laetitia Chevalier but the Russian boxer won their contest in the easier way than expected before the bout.

Netherlands’ current European Champion veteran Marichelle De Jong who was seeded as welterweight No.1 in Qinhuangdao, defeated the second Indian boxer in the competition. Her Asian opponent, National Games winner Neetu Chahal led by 2:1 after two minutes but De Jong stepped up to the gas and her efforts were enough to beat the Indian fighter. The Dutch boxer became the first in the event in China who could secure her place in the quarter-final stage of the championships.

US National Champion Raquel Miller,who began boxing only in 2010, fought for the last eight against Canada’s current Pan-American Champion Myriam Da Silva at the welterweight class. They met each other at the AMBC’s Continental Championships in Cornwall in March where the Canadian boxer won their narrow contest with one point difference. In Qinhuangdao the US competitor was able to strike back to her opponent and advanced to the quarter-final winning the equal bout by accepted scores.

China’s current Asian Champion 19-year-old Wang Dongmei finalized the perfect day for the host nation following her easy success over Sri Lanka’s Asian Championships bronze medallist Dapana Durage Shiromali Weerarathna. Wang’s next opponent in the quarter-final will be Russia’s former European Champion Irina Poteyeva who eliminated Wales’ 18-year-old Lauren Price in a narrow battle”

Monday sees the much looked forward to  ‘battle royal’ between Claressa Shields (USA) and Great Britain’s Savannah Marshall whilst Ireland’s Katie Taylor begins the defence of her 60kg lightweight crown against Tunisia’s Rim Juini, a bronze medallist in the 57kg class in Barbados 2010. A great day’s boxing in store then Monday – and indeed for the rest of the week.

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By Michael O’Neill

Friday 11-05-2012

7th Women’s World Boxing Championship – and only Olympic qualifier

The 7th edition of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships got under way  at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Stadium ,  in Qinhuangdao, China Friday  where some 343 contestants from 77 are scheduled to take part,  a new record  for the event .  In three weight categories, Flyweight  51kg, Lightweight  60kg,  and Middleweight 75kg, there is even more than the world title at stake since the top eight  in each, automatically qualify for a place in the  30^th Olympiad in London later this Summer .

Host nation, China has entered all ten weight divisions, so too  Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Hungary,  Turkey and Ukraine, while the United States, Canada, France, Romania  and Kenya  all send nine representatives each.  Vietnam  and Australia supply eight whilst seven each from  Germany, Poland, Serbia, DPR Korea  and Venezuela have entered  this qualification event .

That women’s boxing continues to attract new nations can be seen from fact that for the first time Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Bolivia, Colombia, DR Congo, Honduras, Jamaica, Nigeria, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Uzbekistan have entered at least one boxer .

Sadly still no entry from Cuba or Saudi Arabia to name but two who have yet to embrace the sport.

On Friday, the AIBA announced the seeds for the various weight categories so let us look at those  in the three Olympic weights.

Firstly at 51kg  (55 participating)  :  1.Cancan Ren, China    2. Nicola Adams,England   3.Elena Savelyeva ,Russia  4.Karolina Michalczuk, Poland  5. Tetyana Kob, Ukraine ,  6.Steluta Duta, Romania   7.Mery Kom Hmangte, India    8.Marlen Esparza,  USA

Next  to 60kg : (58 entries) :   1. Katie Taylor, Ireland   2. Gulsum Tatar, Turkey      3.Cheng Dong,China   4.Tassamalee Thongjan, Thailand    5.Karolina Graczyk, Poland   , 6.Adriana dos Santos, Brazil    7.Quanitta Underwood USA,   8.Denitsa  Eliseeva , Bulgaria

Finally to 75kg: (40 contestants):   1.Mary Spencer, Canada.  2.Nazezda Torlopova,Russia   3. Jinzi Li, China    4.Roseli Amaral Feitosa, Brazil   5.Liliya Durneyva, Ukraine  6.Savannah Marshall, England.  7.Nouchka Fontijn, Netherlands   8. Maria Kovacs, Hungary

Surprises?   Canada’s Mandy Bujold  misses out at 51kg but the real ‘shock omissions’ come in the  other two Olympic  categories. At 60kg, amazingly no place for Russia’s two times World champion  Sofya Ochigava nor for England’s Natasha Jonas , while at 75kg, U.S Olympic Trials winner, Claressa Shields misses out despite her recent convincing victory over Canada’s top ranked, Mary Spencer.  Whilst most experts predicted Spencer would be at no.1 – and deservedly so  -equally despite her inexperience, Shields was tipped for a top 4 seeding. Her first real test is expected to be against Hartlepool’s ‘silent assassin’ Savannah Marshall (representing England) on Monday evening. Marshall was a silver medallist in Barbados 2010 albeit at a lower weight.

To a large extent the absence of these ‘high profile’ fighters from the seedings serves but to demonstrate the current strength of women’s boxing  but anyone ‘writing off’ the chances of such as Ochigava, Jonas, Bujold or Shields does so at their peril.

Ireland’s Katie Taylor, seeking a fourth successive 60kg title has a first round bye – the draw was also made Friday – and on Monday meets either Tunisian, Rim Jouini or Portugal’s  Juliana Canedo da Rocha.   Second seed ,Turkey’s  Gulsum Tatar who has moved down to 60kg , also has a bye and this is followed  again  on Monday by a bout against Ayzanat Hajiyeva of Azerbaijan or India’s Asian titleholder Sarita Laishram Devi,  the type of bout that neither boxer would have wished for this early in the tournament.  Quanitta Underwood begins her quest for an Olympic place on Saturday (12^th) against Argentina’s  Dayana Sanchez . Arguably the biggest  surprise in the 60kg event, apart from Ochigava’s omission,  is the no 4 ranking of Thailand’s Tassamalee Thongjan, who normally competes at 57kg and was bronze medal winner at the last world championships in Barbados.

Five times champion Mery Kom Hmangte now competes in the 51kg classification though only ranked at no.7.  Most boxing fans will be willing her on to gain a place in London 2012 but she is in the same half of the draw as England’s Nikki Adams who has been in superb form of late. An interesting point here is that England and Wales have both entered teams in China whereas in the Olympics they (and Scotland) compete under the Great Britain flag.

A reminder that the AIBA announced that boxing would be separated into men and women events at its 13th congress held in Beijing in 1994. The first official international amateur tournament for women boxers was then held in 1997 with the inaugural AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships taking place four years later in Scranton, USA. After six successful editions, AIBA is now organising the first Olympic qualification tournament for women boxers in conjunction with the event in Qinhuangdao.

Following the International Olympic Committee’s decision in 2009 to include women’s boxing into the Olympic program, the sport has reached a new phase in its development with a huge increase in the number of participants worldwide.

We end, courtesy of  AIBA, with a review of the opening day in Qinhuangdao.

“The most anticipated AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Qinhuangdao 2012 started this Friday 11 May in China with 57kg and 69kg advancing to the Last 16.

On the opening contest of the worldwide event, India’s two-time National Champion Mandakini Chanu Kangabam did not give too many chances to Serbia’s Silesian Open Tournament silver medallist Bojana Ranic. The Indian boxer led by 10:3 after the first two minutes and finally the referee stopped their unequal fight in the third round.

Chinese Taipei’s former Asian Champion Chen Chia Ling returned to the world of boxing last year and regained her place in the national squad. She proved in her first contest that she is a top fighter in the featherweight class and overwhelmed Australia’s AIBA Junior World Championships quarter-finalist 17-year-old Skye Nicolson in Qinhuangdao.

Turkey’s four-time European Championships bronze medallist Nagehan Malkoc Gul fought against Bulgaria’s former European Youth Champion and EU Championships silver medallist 22-year-old Svetlana Kamenova Staneva in the first preliminary round. The taller  Bulgarian boxer opened with a 4:1 lead while the Turkish athlete did not find the best fighting distance therefore Staneva’s victory is not a surprise.

Hungary’s AIBA Junior World Championships bronze medallist Kornelia Kitti Nagy who celebrated her 17th birthday just before her first elite competition, had a brave attempt to beat Mexico’s Independence Cup silver medallist tough Cynthia Robles. The Central American boxer started better the bout and made a great last round when her teenager rival was too tired to turn the battle.

Japan’s multiple National Champion veteran Nana Yoshikawa won each of the rounds in her debut contest against Kenya’s best featherweight boxer Rebah Matanda. The final verdict of their bout was 22:10 to Yoshikawa who advanced to the last 16 in the AIBA Women’s World Championships and will now meet England’s European Championships silver medallist Lisa Whiteside who was seeded as No.3.

Canada’s Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament bronze medallist Melissa Guillemette led by 4:2 after the first tactical round against Denmark’s newly crowned Nordic Champion 22-year-old Sarah Mahfoud.  Guillemette showed excellent footwork in her first contest and that performance was enough to beat Mahfoud by 15:7.

Vietnam’s current AIBA Junior World Champion 16-year-old Vuong Thi Vy who is member of the ‘AIBA Road to London Program’ had an easy opening contest in Qinhuangdao. Vietnam’s best future hope proved that her present is also great and she increased her boxing knowledge in the UK in the  Winter. Her first rival was Croatia’s National Champion Annamarija Vujaklija who had no chance to beat her teenager opponent.

France’s 22-year-old Malva Hammadouche who had several victories in the international level last year, showed her great technique against Germany’s EU Championships bronze medallist Maike Klueners in the first preliminary round. The French boxer and her ringside found the winning tactic in the third round and eliminated her neighbouring rival by 29:18.

Russia’s European Championships bronze medallist Viktoriya Gurkovich outpointed her first opponent in Qinhuangdao, Slovakia’s only competitor in the event, 18-year-old Piroska Bodoki who has got only five contests in her career. The referee stopped their contest very quickly to save Bodoki’s health.

At the welterweight class India’s Asian Women’s Cup bronze medallist Neetu Chahal advanced to the last 16 after beating Hungary’s EU Champion 23-year-old Bianka Nagy who is member of the national team since 2006. The Indian boxer dominated during their contest and won the bout by a large margin of points.

Reigning US National Champion Raquel Miller who has been boxing since only 2010, also secured her place in the last 16 at the welterweight class following her success over New Zealand’s best future hope, Arafura Games winner 18-year-old Daena Stephenson. Miller’s next opponent will be Canada’s Panamerican Champion Myriam Da Silva in the next preliminary round.

So ends the first day in China with the  ‘big guns’  entering tomorrow when among those in action will be Quanitta Underwood against Argentinian rival  Dayana Sanchez at 60kg.

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One of the most beautiful female Russian athletes, national Thai boxing champion and winner of the Royal Thai Consulate Cup, Anastasia Yan’kova returns to the professional ring (54 kg) in the fourth W5 Fighter, kickboxing tournament, which will be held May 17 at the Arena Moscow Club.

Anastasia opponent, “Gina Carano Russian” is the Ukraine kickboxing champion and winner of the Ukrainian Thai boxing championship which was held in Korkoshko Victoria (Ukraine). This will be the second professional fight for Yan’kova, who in her pro debut convincingly overcame compatriot Anastasia Veselov.

The W5 Fighter tournament is scheduled with 12 professional kickboxing fights: (6 qualifiers in 4 weight classes, 4 rating/s and two super-fights).

Main Fight-Card

SUPER BATTLE up to 54 kg: Yan’kova Anastasia (Russia) VS Victoria Korkoshko (Ukraine)

SUPER BATTLE up to 60 kg: Trogiyanov Yuri (Russia) (“Golden Time” best athlete in 2012) – Vitaly Lisnyak (Ukraine). Champion and World

Alexander Novikov (Russia) – Sergey Zagumennov (Russia), 75 kg

Eugene Godovnikov (Russia) – Ilya Chichin (Russia), 75 kg

Roman Mailov (Ukraine) – Denis Larchenko (Belarus), 70 kg

Stanislav Perzhanovsky (Ukraine) – Roman Sokolov (Russia), 70 kg

Dadurov Igor (Russia) – Artem Pashporin (Russia), 65 kg

Sirotenko Ruslan (Russia) – Artem Avanesov (Belarus), 60 kg

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Tibor Feja and his Feja Promotion is staging a major WBF doubleheader on Saturday May 12 in Budapest, Hungary, featuring an interesting female world title defense, and two local boxers clashing for the vacant Intercontinental Super Middleweight strap.

World Boxing Federation women’s World Bantamweight Champion Renata Szebeledi, 15-9 (8), is making the first defense of her title against tough Romanian Eva Marcu, 7-3 (2), in a rematch.

The two fought last June, with Szebeledi coming out on top after a rough encounter, and now Marcu will get her chance at redemption and her first world championship.

In her first bout after defeating Marcu last year, Szebeledi travelled to Germany to capture the WBF World title with an inspired performance against local favorite Pia Mazelanik. Since then she has racked up three non-title victories, before dropping a close decision in an IBF Super Flyweight challenge against Simona Galassi in Italy.   Now back at her natural weight, Szebeledi is looking forward to defending her world championship in front of her local fans, and with Marcu coming off a fresh victory last month she is sure to be in for another hard challenge.

In the second WBF title fight of the night, Budapest-rivals Attila Baran, 9-2 (4), and Janos Olah, 10-8-1 (3), will duke it out for the vacant Intercontinental Super Middleweight championship. Both have mixed in minor championship territory in their careers, but Baran (19) has youth on his side, while Olah (30) is the more experienced and tested.

It shapes up to be an interesting night of championship boxing in Budapest on May 12, and while Szebeledi and Baran must be considered slight favorites, it is bound to be competitive action in both fights.

www.worldboxingfederation.net

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