BAHRAIN’S Danis Latypov and India’s Mohamed Hussamuddin clinched silver medals in the 71st Strandja Memorial Tournament, one of the strongest elite competitions and Bulgaria’s top boxing event.
A total of 34 nations took part in the event from four different confederations. Among those represented included some of the best boxing countries in the world, such as Russia, the US, India, Ireland, Brazil, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, France, Ukraine, Morocco, Romania and Poland.
Latypov is Bahrain’s best boxer and he is aiming for a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The former Russian WSB boxer advanced to the semi-finals of the Strandja Memorial where he beat France’s 2019 European Games silver-medallist Mourad Aliev.
Latypov became the first finalist in a top international tournament from Bahrain and he tried his best to reach the top of the podium against Ukraine’s Tsotne Rogava.
Patient
Latypov was patient in the first round against the Georgian-descent Ukrainian and tried to find the best attacking angles.
Bahrain’s southpaw had close defence in the first round but Rogava increased his tempo in the second and his tough punches reached their target.
Rogava’s final round was the best in the title bout and Latypov had to settle for the silver medal.
Meanwhile, Hussamuddin had claimed a silver medal at the 2017 edition of the Strandja Memorial, which was one of his first-ever international competitions. The 26-year-old bantamweight (57kg) boxer returned to Sofia and defeated excellent opponents during his road to the final, including Belgium’s Vasile Usturoi and Ukraine’s Mykola Butsenko, who was unable to box against him in the last four.
Hussamuddin faced Italy’s Francesco Maietta for the title. The Indian boxer was a hard target for the Italian in the opening minute but Hussamuddin received more punches in the second part of the bout. He eventually repeated his silver medal from 2017.
Latypov and Hussamuddin are aiming to compete in the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers set to be held in Amman from March 3 to 11.
“Basically we spend over two weeks in Bulgaria to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers to be held in Wuhan from February 3 to 16,” said Bahrain head coach Tony Davis. “But the event was postponed and shifted to Jordan.”
“Bahrain’s another boxer Abdulla was drawn against an US boxer (69kg) but was beaten on points. However, it was a very good experience for Abdulla.
“Not bad for Bahrain, a nation who only made their international debut last April in the Asian Elite Boxing Championships.”
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