Mr. Dashdemberel Baterdene – Boxing is suitable for the Mongolians

Mongolia is one of the key boxing nation in the Asian continent which country showed amazing development in the recent 10 years in spite of the fact the number of the boxers are very low in the Central Asian power. The Asian Boxing Confederation asked the President of the Mongolian Boxing Federation Mr. Dashdemberel Baterdene about their boxing life, potentials, main goals and issues.
Their currently best boxer Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai was gold medallist in the 2014 Asian Games and achieved bronze medals in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and also in the Hamburg 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships. It is important to underline all of the four qualified Mongolian boxers advanced to the Top8 in the Hamburg 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships which is a good start for the Central Asians in the first year of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic era.

– Could you please introduce your country’s boxing life?
– The Mongolian Boxing Association is the oldest sports federation in the country which was established in 1948. From 1948 until 2017 our association is developed to the Top3 sport federations in Mongolia. Throughout this time the Mongolian Boxing Association has won more than 6,000 gold, silver and bronze medals in the international competitions.
The first gold medal for Mongolia was achieved by Kh. Altankhuyag in the Asian Boxing Championships in Tehran in 1971. The Mongolian boxers claimed 40 medals total in the history of the Asian Boxing Championships while we have got 9 medals from the AIBA World Boxing Championships and seven podium places from the Olympic Games.
Our first Olympic gold medallist was Enkhbaatar Badar-Uugan in Beijing in 2008 who won the Val Barker Trophy as well. Afterwards Purevdorj Serdamba won Mongolia’s first gold medal in the history of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan in 2009. In the last three editions of the Olympic Games, the Mongolian boxers achieved five medals out of our total seven medals.
There are 85 registered coaches in all over the country and about 2,000 athletes train every week in our sport. Currently we have got 30 clubs in the capital city in Ulaanbaatar and 25 other clubs in countryside.

– Would you like to tell us your strategic plans for the future and the key developments in your country?
– We have to develop the coaches and referees in Mongolia, this is our key point in the future developments. We are planning to host AIBA 1-star Coach Course in Mongolia soon and we have got several strategic plans for 2018. We will be holding four national events next year and the Ulaanbaatar International Box Cup in 2018. Our main goals in 2018 are the Asian Games and also the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games.

– What are the main strengths and issues in your boxing life?
– Our main problem in our association is the lack of the instrument and equipment. Clubs have got usually lack adequate instruments and equipment which become one of the underlying causes of not being able to enrol the youth and next age groups to the sport. In the other side of the story is that boxing is a sport that suitable for the physical and anthropological attributes of the Mongolians.