Dariga Shakimova returned to the international stage with a success at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament
The Bocskai Memorial Tournament is Hungary’s traditional boxing competition which began in the Eastern region of the country in the city of Debrecen. Among the Asian nations, Kazakhstan sent a team to the 65th edition of the event and their young Kuandyk Maksut and Rio 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist Dariga Shakimova both won their opening contests in Hungary.
Kazakhstan Boxing Federation is very active in the boxing map, they sent a strong team to the European competition where 22 nations are attending this week. Among the top boxing nations, England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Georgia, host Hungary, Finland, Wales and Algeria are also there in Debrecen. The first day of preliminary contests were held in the opening session with 31 bouts in the event.
Kazakhstan’s first boxer in action was Karim Serkebayev who returned to Hungary after two and half years of break. The Kazakh flyweight (52kg) boxer attended at the Budapest 2018 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and the 19-year-old talent proved his impressive technical developments in Debrecen. Serkebayev is planning to make a breakthrough among the elite boxers this year and the Bocskai Memorial Tournament is his first big test. He opened well against Italy’s WSB boxer Federico Serra but the Italian turned up the heat in the second and landed also strong punches. The Kazakh boxer had the better technical skills but his Italian opponent had the routine to win their difficult fight by split decision.
Kuandyk Maksut was gold medallist at the Puerto Princesa 2017 ASBC Asian Junior Boxing Championships and joined to the elite age group only one year ago. The 19-year-old talent opened his campaign against Poland’s Lukasz Zygula who had the strong fighting spirit but Maksut knew more about boxing. The Kazakh middleweight (75kg) boxer proved that he is more than a fighter and controlled all of the three rounds against the Polish rival. The final verdict was unanimous decision in the favour of the Kazakh boxer who advanced to the last 16 in Debrecen.
Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova was bronze medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and claimed gold at the Wulanchabu 2015 ASBC Asian Women’s Boxing Championships. The Kazakh veteran moved down to the welterweight (69kg) in the recent two years but she was not able to compete at the Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event. Shakimova arrived to the Bocskai Memorial Tournament with great expectations and eliminated Hungary’s 21-year-old Vivien Budai in Debrecen.
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