With the EUBC European Confederation Youth Boxing Championships well underway in Kolobrzeg, Poland, the prelimary bouts have already witnessed some superlative boxing. Day two saw forty bouts of flyweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight action, throwing up some clear early medal contenders.

Ireland’s AIBA Junior World Champion William Donoghue dominated every round of his opening match against Bulgaria’s Kiril Rusinov to prove his credentials as a major flyweight medal hope, and will now prepare to take on Ukraine’s Andriy Tyshkovets in the quarter-finals.

“I have big plans in boxing, but before I target the elite level, I am focusing on these Championships. I just went into the ring and did my best in my opening bout, I boxed well and I was picking him off with some nice shots, so its on to the next where I will hopefully do the same and take the gold medal back to Ireland,” said Donoghue.

England newcomer at flyweight Akash Tuqir managed to cause something of an upset against Spain’s Jose Quiles who already has three titles to his name this year. Tuqir quickly found his rhythm, knocking the Spaniard down in the second round to win by TKO.

Slovakian medal-hope Filip Meszaros took his first steps in the competition with aplomb,  eliminating Serbia’s top youth boxer Sebastian Saciri by unanimous decision in their flyweight contest.

“I wasn’t fresh enough, but I boxed well in my first bout. My Serbian opponent had the same style and approach, but I was able to get through it and had to be quicker and smarter than him. I think I wanted this victory more, and I know why I am here in the championships,” said Meszaros after his bout.

Hungary’s AIBA Athlete of July, the 17-year-old light welterweight Mark Kontrecz, didn’t have an easy time of it against Bulgaria’s powerful new talent Zhelyo Dimitrov, but his intricate combinations ultimately paid off as he progressed to the quarters.

“My first fight wasn’t what I expected from myself in Kolobrzeg and I was a bit nervous, but I tried to launch longer and quicker combinations and keep my distance – but my Bulgarian opponent was aggressive and powerful,” said Kontrecz afterwards.

The pick of the day’s bouts, however, was between Scotland’s Commonwealth Youth Games winner John Docherty and France’s EUBC European Junior Champion Louis Toutin in the second middleweight preliminary round. The Scot attacked from the first bell and had the stamina to hold off the challenge from his more technical opponent by the end of the match.

England’s Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist Benjamin Whittaker was the surprise winner against Italian favourite Giovanni Sarchioto, while the light heavyweight gold-medal favourites Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of Russia, Scotland’s Sean Lazzerini and Ukraine’s Stepan Hrekul, all made it safely through to the quarter-finals.

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