Host country Serbia will have high expectations for the EUBC Elite Men's and Women's European Boxing Championships to be held in Belgrade. The team includes three outstanding star players who will compete in the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall “Pionir”.
Vahid Abbasov was the most notable of the 24-man team, returning to defend his 2022 European title, a year before winning silver at the European Games in Poland. Boxing at 67 kg, he will face strong opposition from Georgian Rasha Gulli, a two-time world medalist who won silver medals at the European Championships and the European Games.
This will be the first EUBC Elite European Boxing Championship where men and women will compete together, so Serbia will be hoping for further success from Natalia Shadrina in the women's 60kg category. Shadrina won a silver medal at last year's European Games, but she has never topped the podium at this level yet. However, it is a highly competitive division that boasts one of Ireland's best boxers of all time, defending Olympic, European Championship and European Games champion, and 2018 World Gold Medalist, Kelly Harrington.
Almir Memic, who is graduating from the junior ranks, is aiming for a podium in the men's 75kg category after twice winning bronze medals at the European U22 Championships in 2022 and 2023. Russia's Dzhumbulat Bidyamov will be aiming to add to his record and add to the European crown. Silver medal at the 2021 IBA Men's World Boxing Championships.
France has assembled a talented squad in Belgrade, including world medalist and three-time defending European champion Bilal Benama, and is hoping for gold in the 54kg category.
In the men's 92kg class, Azerbaijan's Tokyo 2020 medalist Laurent Alfonso will compete against Russia's Muslim Gazima Gomedov. Alfonso won the 86kg world title in 2021, while Gazimagomedov won the world title in 2019 and 2023.
Tokyo's other medalist, Buse Naz Chakrooglu, is aiming for her third gold medal at the European Championships, this time in the women's 52kg category. Her teammate, Turkey's Busenaz Surmeneri, is an Olympic champion and two-time world champion and is aiming for her first European title after winning bronze in the past two Games.
In the women's 57kg category, Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva, two-time European silver medalist and world bronze medalist, and Ireland's Michaela Walsh, two-time European bronze medalist, will compete for their first European title. do.
Finally, Aoife O'Rourke, like Chakroll, is aiming for her third gold medal at the European Championships and will compete against Russian youth and junior prodigy Anastasia Shamonova and Lithuanian Gabriele in the women's 75kg tournament. He will compete against Stonkte and others at the 2022 World Championship. She is a European champion who won both titles at a heavier weight of 81kg.
With 378 boxers from 30 countries registered, the competition will be held from April 18 to 28 and can be viewed on the IBA's YouTube channel.
