Day four of the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Kolobrzeg, Poland, saw the last bouts of the preliminary rounds take place with boxers from 26 nations marching on to the quarter-finals, just one victory away from a guaranteed medal.

Moldova’s defending EUBC European Youth Lightweight Champion Dorin Bucsa joined the last eight after beating Georgia’s Ucha Maisuradze, while his team-mate and EUBC European Junior Champion Vladislav Tugui suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Turkey’s Kacar Sedat.

Germany’s Denis Gashi, happy to have defeated Scotland’s Lewis Hay for the second time this year, said after his bout; “I just wanted to be the faster boxer today against Lewis Hay. I knew my opponent and how he fights and my plans were based on quicker movements. My performance was a good one but I will raise my rhythm in the quarter-finals to get a guaranteed medal in Kolobrzeg.”

Russia’s young star Konstantin Mishechkin eventually overcame Azerbaijan’s Parviz Guliyev in one of several epic battles on day four, while Hungarian southpaw Mark Kontrecz needed to dig deep to defeat his Belarusian opponent Mikhail Basiakou.

Kontrecz will now face Georgia’s Ahmet Comert Youth Tournament winner Eskerkhan Madiyev, who held off the challenge of England’s Matthew Rennie in their welterweight bout. Lewis Howells is Wales’ last surviving medal hope in Kolobrzeg after he outboxed Latvia’s Ritvars Sulga to stay on course for a podium finish.

“I think my opponent was good and hungry but I wanted to keep coming forward, throw a lot of punches and keep my opponent on the back foot from the first round. I am fit after the contest and ready to go again. After four months of hard preparations leading up to the championships I am ready to win a medal,” said Howells.

Michael Nevin used his height advantage to beat France’s Djessim Boulefkhad and become the fifth Irish boxer to advance to the last eight. Wrapping up day four, Finland’s Muhammad Abdilrasoon outscored England’s Carl Fail in their welterweight match, and Russia’s AIBA Youth World Champion Bibert Tumenov overpowered Slovakia’s Andrej Csemez.

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