YOUTH ATHLETES, AHEAD!

Boxing is one of the most popular sports in Azerbaijan. However, Azerbaijani boxers have recently been less successful at prestigious competitions. To know the current state of Azerbaijani boxing better, we took part at the national championship. 138 athletes from 28 teams representing clubs from different regions of the country, as well as sports societies competed for ten sets of medals at the last boxing competition held this year. Nevertheless, we could feel serious competition in the national championship.

Yadigar Aliyev (49 kg), Masud Yusifzadeh (52 kg), Tayfur Aliyev (56 kg), Javid Chalabiyev (60 kg), Elvin Isayev (64 kg), Elnur Suleymanov (69 kg), Kamran Shahsuvarly (75 kg), Rauf Rahimov (81 kg), Rovshan Yagubzadeh (91 kg) and Muhammed Abdullayev (91+ kg) became the champions of Azerbaijan in respective weight categories. Elnur Suleymanov was recognized as the most technical, and Nijat Hasanov, who lost thee fight to Suleymanov, was the most strong-willed boxer.

The championship ended without surprises. Even the loss of Lorenzo Sotomayor to Elnur Suleymanov by knockout in the semifinals did not surprise the coaches. The level of training of the silver medallist of the Summer Olympic Games, the winner of the Islamic Solidarity Games, naturalized Cuban Sotomayor could be better. In his interview with R+, the new head coach of the Azerbaijani boxing team Vagif Shirinov also confirmed this. "Sotomayor is an athlete with international recognition. It is too early drop him from the team. None of our athletes has as much experience as he has. We will continue to work with him. Sotomayor’s problem is star fever. We and our psychologist have talked with him about the problem. He understood a lot. We cannot put an end to his career after one defeat. Sometimes such defeats open the way to great victories," Shirinov said.

The head coach also explained the absence of national team leaders, Elvin Mamishzadeh, Teymur Mammadov and three-time world champion Magomedrasul Majidov in the championship. He said that Majidov missed the championship due to pain in his knee, while Mamishzadeh was not allowed to participate due to excessive weight. T. Mamedov had to watch the championship as a spectator, as he was to have nose surgery.

Vagif Shirinov agrees that there is no serious competition at the national championship. "Although I liked the performances of some of the young boxers, in general, the competition has raised some concerns. Leading boxers of the team clearly suffered from the lack of practice, training. Weak physical and technical training of the leaders is alarming. We lag behind the boxing world," Shirinov believes.

At the same time, the head coach also thinks that the participation of young Azerbaijani boxers in a number of international competitions helped them to express themselves from the positive side during the national championship. In particular, the Muhammed Abdullayev and Nijat Hasanov are worth mentioning. "It is time to promote young generation of boxers in our team. We can update the team with new athletes in different weight categories. So, the leaders should try not to give up their positions in the national team," Shirinov explained.

Shirinov believes in the urgency of reforms in the national team. "Magomedrasul Majidov (91+ kg) will compete with the winner of the national championship, Muhammed Abdullayev. Among the 81 kg, I would mention Rauf Rahimov and Pedro Alfonso, and among the 69 kg, these are Sotomayor and Elnur Suleymanov. Kamran Shahsuvarly is in the 75 kg weight category. We also have relatively weak categories. For example, there is a problem in the category 49 kg. Due to his military service, Masud Yusifzadeh (52 kg) could not prepare properly in his weight category. Tayfur Aliyev and Umid Rustamov (both 56 kg) are not quite ready to participate in international competitions. In general, we have hard work ahead. But this is our job," V. Shirinov emphasised.

He also commented on his predecessor, Ukrainian trainer Leonid Loivsky. "I appreciate his work. He is a very good specialist, who has tried real hard to develop the team. For example, despite his short term as a head coach, Magomedrasul Majidov could become a world champion for the third time; Kamran Shahsuvarly won a bronze medal in the World Cup and a silver medal at the European Championship. Now Loivsky works in his country, and criticising him does not make sense."

In general, the world boxing is going through hard times. International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Boxing Association (AIBA) still cannot agree on on a number of issues. Many countries have complained about judging. IOC is trying to resolve differences. Gafur Rahimov was not elected as the AIBA President either. These are the primary reasons why international boxing competitions have been interrupted. It is expected therefore that AIBA will hold tournaments independently. However, these European and World Championships will not award licenses for the Olympic Games. This will probably lead to the creation of a new boxing federation under the IOC. So far, IOC has frozen all AIBA activities. It is still a big question if boxing is included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.