The Azerbaijan Boxing Championship, being held without several national team leaders, has entered the quarterfinal stage. How competitive is the tournament without the top names across weight classes, and how are young boxers performing?
İdman.Biz put these questions to the bronze medalist of the 2000 Olympic Games Vugar Alakbarov.
"Despite the absence of many first choice boxers, the championship is proving to be very interesting. We are seeing a large number of bright young fighters. Just look at the list of quarterfinalists in the under 60 kg category, where more than half are yesterday’s juniors. Magomedali Ashuraliev, Magomedali Gasymzade, Tagi Nasibov — any of them can challenge the highly experienced Tayfur Aliyev. There are many talents in other weight categories as well, but for now I prefer not to name names so as not to jinx the guys. I am confident that the final bouts will introduce us to many new and exciting faces," Alakbarov said.
