Rakhimov and Livaza celebrated their historic semi-final victories in Dubai
Omar Livaza of Kyrgyzstan and Khusravkhon Rakhimov of Tajikistan made their next historic steps for their nations on the eighth competition day at the IBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships in Dubai.
Altogether 428 boxers are participating in the IBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships in Dubai for the 13 available gold medals.
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Cambodia, IBA-China, IBA-India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan are the 21 participating countries from the Asian continent.
Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossynov reached the top of the podium in the 2021 edition of the IBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships in Belgrade. The Kazakh will have the chance to repeat that performance in the final of the bantamweight (54kg) against Russia’s Vyacheslav Rogozin. The 28-year-old Kazakh did not underestimate Nepal’s surprise, Chandra Bahadur Thapa in their respective semi-final and his counter-punches worked well to win his next bout in Dubai.
Uzbekistan’s superstar Abdumalik Khalokov won all of his international and national contests since the 2023 Strandja Memorial Tournament. The 25-year-old Uzbek earned gold medals in all of the major championships but he was still hungry for the success in Dubai as well. Khalokov used his virtuoso style of boxing to beat Armenia’s Artur Bazeyan by unanimous decision and he has the right to defend his throne in two days.
Uzbekistan’s next defending World Champion in action was Asadkhudja Muydinkhujaev who had a very difficult and critical moment in the first round of his semi-final at the welterweight (67kg). Moldova’s strong Alexandru Paraschiv knocked him down which reminded the 24-year-old Uzbek star to increase his tempo from the second round. Muydinkhujaev came back to the business in the beginning of the second round and he eliminated the dangerous Moldovan with his brilliant technical skills.
Uzbekistan’s amazing veteran boxer, Hasanboy Dusmatov had a very tough quarter-final bout against Tajikistan’s Meroj Sufijonov, a 19-year-old talent, but after that he looked more in shape against Rudolf Garboyan of Armenia. The Uzbek flyweight (51kg) boxer controlled almost all of the exchanges with perfect timing and he joined the finals once again as several times during his career.
Kazakhstan’s Orazbek Assylkulov is a boxer who earned silver medals during his entire career but it has hardened him years by years to perform better in the technical and tactical levels. The 27-year-old featherweight (57kg) boxer was dominant against Russia’s Armenian-descent Andrei Peglivanian and he marched to the finals for the first time.
Tajikistan’s Khusravkhon Rakhimov impressed in the preparation tournaments with his strong progress and the ASBC Asian U22 silver medallist boxed over his previous level in Dubai. The featherweight (57kg) boxer won two rounds against Uzbekistan’s Khujanazar Nortojiyev and he managed a historic result to Tajikistan.
Kyrgyzstan’s reigning ASBC Asian U22 Champion Omar Livaza eliminated top boxers in this IBA competition and the 21-year-old talent managed to beat Zambia’s Emmanuel Katema in the semi-finals of the light welterweight (63.5kg). Livaza became Kyrgyzstan’s first ever finalist in a World Elite Boxing Championship and he will be able to show his technical skills against Russia’s Ilia Popov for the gold.
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