Impressive line-up of AIBA Boxing stars head to Hungary for 2016 Bocskai Memorial Tournament

February 1st, 2016 / IBA

The first top international men’s boxing tournament of the year kicks off on Wednesday as the Hungarian city of Debrecen hosts the 2016 Bocskai Memorial Tournament from 3-7 February. First held in 1956, the tournament’s profile has been raised over recent editions, and in its 60th year it stands as one of the continent’s most prestigious boxing events.

A total of 168 boxers from 29 countries will be taking part in the five-day competition, including two AIBA World Champions, seven EUBC European Confederation Champions, six gold medalists from the 2015 European Games and one from both the 2015 Pan-American Games and the 2014 Asian Games.

Undoubtedly one of the biggest names on the programme is former AIBA World Champion Albert Selimov, the Azeri lightweight who won all of his bouts in WSB Season V and who has already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. His compatriot and double AIBA World Champion Mahammadrasul Majidov heads up a star-studded list of super heavyweights that also includes Croatia’s WSB hero Filip Hrgovic and England’s European Games champion Joe Joyce.

Germany’s APB World Champion Artem Harutyunyan will use the tournament to kick off his Olympic preparations, whilst another 2015 European Games winner, Lorenzo Sotomayor, and Kazakhstan’s talented 2014 Youth Olympic Games winner Abylaykhan Zhussupov will be part of a hotly contested light welterweight competition.

“We’ve had a successful training camp in Cuba to prepare for the Bocskai Memorial Tournament and the forthcoming European Olympic Qualification events, with sparring sessions against Cuban stars like three-time AIBA World Champions Lazaro Alvarez and Julio Cesar La Cruz. All of our experienced names and young hopefuls in the team are fit, including Balazs Bacskai and Zoltan Harcsa, and are ready to show their skills in front of Hungary’s boxing fans in Debrecen,” said the Hungarian team’s head coach Dr. Laszlo Kovacs ahead of the tournament.

Current Bocskai Memorial Tournament titleholders

49 kg: Harvey Horn, England

52 kg: Masud Yusifzada, Azerbaijan

56 kg: Enkhjargal Iderkhuu, Mongolia

60 kg, Group A: Roland Galos, Hungary

60 kg, Group B: Miklos Varga, Hungary

64 kg, Group A: Battarsukh Chinzorig, Mongolia

64 kg, Group B: Maksat Zheksenbi, Kazakhstan

69 kg, Group A: Byamba Tuvshinbat, Mongolia

69 kg, Group B: Mate Rudan, Croatia

75 kg: Khaybula Musalov, Azerbaijan

81 kg, Group A: Damir Plantic, Croatia