AIBA Youth World Championships 2018

[HI-TECH Boxing]

Dzhambulat Bizhamov of Russia beat Yermakhan Zhekpekov of Kazakhstan.
Pretty impressive performance by Bizhamov. He was just able to out-maneuver Zhekpekov.
Bizhamov reminds me a little of Oleg Saitov, 3x Olympic medalist.

Russia needed a good Welterweight badly and they may just have him.

The Senior Russian team is rather weak, in my opinion, they definitely need to add some of these younger guys to their team.

I will watch the rest of the finals later.

[DuckAdonis]

Agreed with all the decisions regarding the winners of the finals. The cuban boxer that beat Popov looked really sharp to me, i just wish those cubans would keep their hands up more and not rely on reflexes so much

[NEETzsche]

Agreed with all the decisions regarding the winners of the finals. The cuban boxer that beat Popov looked really sharp to me, i just wish those cubans would keep their hands up more and not rely on reflexes so much

I disagreed with a couple today. I thought Togambay certainly beat Kolesnikov at Light Heavy and leant towards Price and Zhakpekov in their respective bouts. Stevens landed some eye-catching overhands, especially in round one, but did often eat a lot of return fire on the way in and out of range too. Bizhamov also started strong but got dragged more and more into Zhakpekov's fight and while he had moments of brilliance throughout I felt that in the second and third rounds Zhakpekov was landing the more punishing shots, especially that bodywork in the third. The Super Heavy fight could've gone on a bit longer too

All in the all the finals were pretty entertaining this year, I enjoyed them. Khalokov, Umara, Zhakpekov, Bizhamov and Popov were the most impressive fighters that I saw (I had the last two losing their finals but they still clearly ooze class)

[HI-TECH Boxing]

Dzhambulat Bizhamov of Russia, 69kg, was awarded the Boxer of the Tournament.
I can't complain since he was top 3 for me. I would have given it to Khalokov, because he was the only boxer to win all of his fights via unanimous decision, but Bizhamov is not a bad choice.

Going to be interesting which of these boxers can make the Senior team for next year.

[HI-TECH Boxing]

I think decisions were fair for the majority of the tournament.
There was a few decisions didn't agree with, but I don't think I saw a huge robbery.
There will always be a lot of close fights in bouts that are scheduled for three rounds.

[NEETzsche]

I think decisions were fair for the majority of the tournament.
There was a few decisions didn't agree with, but I don't think I saw a huge robbery.
There will always be a lot of close fights in bouts that are scheduled for three rounds.

Agreed, the only ones that really didn't sit well with me were the decisions given to Kolesnikov in the semis and the final. Two in a row seems like more than just a coincidence

[YNG]

The Cuban boxer that beat Popov impressed me, Popov is really good but Piskunov (who beat Popov) is imo a better prospect, regarding the Cuban, it's a shame the he needs to beat Andy Cruz to get the spot and that is not going to happen, Cruz is imo the best amateur in the world and clearly the best Cuban boxer right now.

[HI-TECH Boxing]

The thing with Popov is that he has been changing his style.
Just look at the way he fought when he was a Junior and now.
He fought way better when he was younger. He is more flat-footed now.
He is still very good and can potentially medal at the Olympics, but changing his style was not a good choice.

Making the Russia team at 63kg (they will remove 60kg and move 64kg down) will be tough. It's probably one of the more competitive weight classes in Russia.
Russia needs to have some of their younger boxers replace the old ones next year.
Not impressed with the current crop of the Senior Russian team.

[YNG]

The thing with Popov is that he has been changing his style.
Just look at the way he fought when he was a Junior and now.
He fought way better when he was younger. He is more flat-footed now.
He is still very good and can potentially medal at the Olympics, but changing his style was not a good choice.

Making the Russia team at 63kg (they will remove 60kg and move 64kg down) will be tough. It's probably one of the more competitive weight classes in Russia.
Russia needs to have some of their younger boxers replace the old ones next year.
Not impressed with the current crop of the Senior Russian team.

Piskunov imo is the best Russian prospect, he can punch like a mofo.

[HI-TECH Boxing]

Piskunov imo is the best Russian prospect, he can punch like a mofo.

I would say Piskunov is better than Popov at this moment. I hope to see both in the pros either way. Don't like when boxers stay in the amateurs too long.

We will have to see how all of these boxers adjust to the Seniors next year at the World Championships.