The World Boxing Championship saw two Russian golds, an anthem and a flag

At the World Boxing Championship that ended in Uzbekistan, Russia took third place in the medal standings, winning two gold and four bronze medals. And our athletes performed with the national flag and anthem. Are there Olympic prospects?

Native flag and anthem of Russia – at the last World Cup in Tashkent! Boxing today is an island of our heightened emotions. The happiness of athletes and fans, prohibited at all starts in other sports. And two victories in the chic finals of the final day, four more bronze medals. Will we have an Olympic team? Will these guys, who have entered the elite of world boxing, be able to enter the ring in Paris 2024? The World Cup has shown: competitors from Russia should be afraid.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) returned national paraphernalia and dignity to our and Belarusian athletes back in the fall of last year. Did not create IBAs and commissions to use the admission criteria recommended by the IOC. She showed courage and justice.

In Tashkent, in addition to the emotions that accompanied the full rights of our athletes, there were, of course, sports tasks. The coaching council set the task of winning two golds. The task was solved.

The first gold on the last day of the championship in Tashkent was won by Sharaputdin Ataev in the category up to 86 kg. In the final, the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, Cuban Lorne Alfonso Dominguez, who plays for Azerbaijan, came out against him. Two years ago, boxers already met at the World Championships, Ataev lost. After the victory in Tashkent, and it turned out to be convincing, Sharaputdin said that this fight was fundamental for him: revenge. “I had to win, put an end to the confrontation.”

Muslim Gadzhimagomedov became the world champion in the category up to 92 kg. And this fight with the Italian Aziz Abbes Mukhidin turned out to be very difficult, exhausting both the opponents, the judges, and the spectators. And yet, despite the difficulty of making a decision, the judges awarded the victory to our athlete. Muslim became the fifth Russian boxer, in whose career there are now two victories at the world championships.

Experts are sure that the result obtained by the Russian team in Tashkent could have been even better. Although compared to the World Championships in Belgrade, which took place in 2021 even before the sanctions, Russia even won one more medal. In Belgrade, three of our boxers competed in the finals (however, there was no boycott from countries protesting against the admission of Russia. A dozen countries, including the USA and Great Britain, ignored the championship in Tashkent.) At the 2023 championship, Russia had two finals, both turned gold. Although there could have been a third, if home refereeing had not worked.

For example, according to our coaching staff, Dmitry Dvali (up to 54 kg), who lost by decision of the judges to the owner of the ring Oybek Zhuraev, did not deserve this at all. Dmitry held the initiative throughout the battle and looked more active, delivering the hardest blows to the opponent. As a result, Dvali got only bronze.

The World Championship was not held in the most calm atmosphere around it, not only because of the decision to allow our athletes. Back in 2019, the IOC stripped the IBA of its status of recognition – it exposed problems in management and the financial crisis, demanding reforms. At the same time, the organization of competitions at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris was under the direct control of the IOC itself, which also decided that the sport would not yet be included in the program of the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.

The current president, Umar Kremlev, was elected in December 2020, sorted out finances, the organization adopted a new constitution and carried out a number of transformations, set high prize money at the World Championships, and a program of financial assistance to national federations appeared. The prize fund of the just-past tournament, for example, amounted to $5.2 million: the winners received $200,000 each, the silver medalists received $100, and the bronze medalists received $50.

The current policy of the IBA, which does not allow discrimination of athletes on the basis of a passport, naturally aroused the wrath of unfriendly countries. A new aggravation of relations between the IOC and the IBA has also begun, which does not want to follow the recommendations for the removal of Russians and the criteria for admission upon return.

The boycott of the World Cup is not the only step in the confrontation. In the world of boxing, which is going through difficult times, there has been a real split: a group of national federations has announced the creation of a new international federation World Boxing. The Boxing Associations of the USA and Great Britain are in the forefront of the initiative. The purpose of the newly created structure is to achieve recognition by the International Olympic Committee. Translated into everyday language: remove the troubled International Boxing Association with its Russian president Umar Kremlev and stop boxing from sliding into extinction from the Olympic Games program.

On the opening day of the World Cup, President Kremlev said that his goal was not at all the love of the IOC for him. “If I don’t suit them, this is their personal business, the IBA is an independent organization, like the IOC, our only difference is that they host the Olympics, and we host the World Cup.” I repeated this after the end of the tournament.

… This World Cup – with the flag and anthem of Russia – is, of course, a phenomenon in modern sports. There is no need to look for Olympic prospects on it, the start was not a qualifying one. And the prospects for everything – both selection and participation – are still vague. But the two golds of the boxers, as well as the gold and silver of the judokas who had just competed at their world championships in a neutral status, reminded us that we need to rejoice at every victory of our athletes here and now. According to the laws of sports.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29029 dated May 16, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Ring with the flag of Russia