AIBA World Boxing Championships 2019 - Flyweight and Featherweight
(Photo by Donat Sorokin\TASS via Getty Images)
In a tournament that delivered excitement, drama and yes - controversy - 365 athletes from 78 countries squared off for the chance to declare themselves world champion. Over the course of the next week, I’ll be analysing the results from every division, offering my picks for the best fights to watch and taking a look at the potential implications of the world championships on who will succeed at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. Today, we start out with the lightest divisions in the tournament - flyweight and featherweight.
Flyweight (52kg)
Gold - Shakhobidin Zoirov (Uzbekistan)
Silver - Amit Panghal (India)
Bronze - Billal Bennama (France), Saken Bibossinov (Kazakhstan)
With the light-flyweight and flyweight divisions being merged together in order to correspond with the weight classes confirmed for Tokyo 2020, the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships posed a unique opportunity for some exciting new matchups at flyweight.
2017 flyweight world champion Yosvany Veitia of Cuba was the #1 seed heading into the tournament, boasting a stellar amateur record of 128 wins and 17 losses. Yet despite being a rightful favourite, the Cuban hadn’t been as dominant in 2019 with losses to Billal Bennama of France as well as Dominican Rodrigo Marte in the Pan-American Games final. Marte himself, seeded at #4, looked a strong contender for gold in the run-up to the Worlds and the prospect of a rematch with Veitia in the semi-finals looked decisive. On the other side of the bracket, #2 Amit Panghal of India had enjoyed a breakout year in 2019 by triumphing in the Asian Championships - scoring a notable win over the reigning 49kg Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan - and hoped to carry his form to a gold medal in Russia. 52kg European silver-medallist Daniel Asenov of Bulgaria (#5) also threatened to make the podium, as did Colombian Olympic silver medallist Yuberjen Martinez-Rivas of Colombia (#3).
However it was unseeded Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan who became the 52kg champion in Russia, beating a number of the division’s elite on his way to topping the podium. First and foremost, it must be said that Zoirov shouldn’t have been unseeded at the world championships; the Uzbek won Olympic gold (52kg) at Rio 2016, and boasted considerable amateur experience as evidenced by medals in the 2013 and 2015 Asian Championships.
The reason for the AIBA Seeding Commission not ranking him in the world championships is that in 2018, Zoirov turned professional, and thus has not competed in recent amateur tournaments. Despite this, the seeding committee should have factored in Zoirov’s previous amateur pedigree and ranked him accordingly. Many seeded fighters such as Rodrigo Marte had to face an opponent as difficult as Zoirov early on as a result, which deprived them of the chance to progress further in the world championships whilst other seeds faced much easier competition. I don’t want to take anything away from Zoirov’s victory at flyweight, but I do think the seeding committee screwed over some of the division’s best here which robbed us of some interesting matchups later on.
In his run to gold, the Uzbek coasted through a preliminary round bout to set up a clash with #4 Rodrigo Marte in the second round, and in a tight affair where few clean shots landed, Zoirov edged the Dominican on all 5 cards to progress. Victories over #5 Daniel Asenov and Billal Bennama in the quarter’s and semi’s saw Zoirov reach the final, where he faced #2 Amit Panghal. Amit had impressed early on in the tournament with his high-tempo style and speed, but narrowly scraped past unseeded Saken Bibossinov by split decision in his semi-final and had benefitted from being in a less competitive side of the bracket.
Yet he proved a worthy opponent for Zoirov in the final, troubling the Uzbek with his speed, counters and tight defence. Zoirov ultimately prevailed though, edging the first with higher output before countering well on the back foot to take the third in a close contest. The scorecards were unanimous in favour of the Olympic champion, and I scored the fight 29-28 for Zoirov too. In the end, the accuracy of Zoirov’s counters when Amit came forward is what separated two very talented fighters, and saw the Uzbek claimed his first gold at a major tournament since Rio 2016.
So, in terms of technical ability, what stands out about the newly minted flyweight world champion? Amongst other things, Zoirov’s gauging of distance, counter-punching and quick footwork immediately spring to mind. When he’s leading, the southpaw Uzbek will typically mix shots to the body and head in combination, then dart just out of range before his opponent can catch him exiting. One of his favourites is a lead left to the body followed by a right to the head (or a jab, straight left to the body and jab), and Zoirov varies this sequence in order to prevent opponents from picking up on a pattern. By constantly bouncing on the balls of his feet, the Uzbek is able to move out of range whenever required as well as effectively feint with his footwork due to the threat of quickly closing the distance. In correspondence with level changes, opponents are never allowed to settle and often find themselves reacting to him rather than vice-versa. Zoirov’s semi-final against Bennama is a notable example of his skillset on full display, and I recommend watching it in the video below..
Whilst adept at leading, Zoirov is just as comfortable when he’s on the back foot, countering his opponents mid-combination as he moves backwards. Although the Uzbek tends to slap rather than punch straight when he counters (and these shots don’t particularly land clean), they still clearly score, and when a pressing opponent does compromise his favoured range Zoirov will immediately clinch or employ evasive movement to negate the danger. He’s a very talented fighter, and whilst certainly hittable as Amit Panghal showed in their final, Zoirov has a great chance of securing his second Olympic gold next year in Tokyo should he choose to compete.
The biggest disappointment at flyweight this year was undoubtably #1 seed Yosvany Veitia, who had a dismal tournament. In his first bout against unseeded Mohamed Flissi of Algeria, Veitia was his own worst enemy as he was docked two points for failing to keep his head up on numerous occasions, despite being in control of the bout. Whilst Veitia was clearly the superior boxer, his lack of discipline almost cost him an embarrassing second round exit and the Cuban was fortunate to progress by 3:2 split decision. However, his championship defence abruptly ended in the next round with a 5:0 UD loss to England’s Galal Yafai. For some bizarre reason, Veitia decided to abandon his slick movement whenever Yafai closed the distance, standing stationary behind a porous guard as the British fighter tee’d off on him. Despite landing some eye catching shots of his own on the counter, it wasn’t enough as Yafai snuck strong jabs through Veitia’s guard and punished his uncharacteristically immobile opponent with body shots. It really was a poor performance from Veitia and perfectly summarised his tournament; hugely underwhelming. All credit to Yafai though, who had a clear plan that he executed well to claim the biggest scalp of his career.
Now that the world championships have concluded, it’ll be interesting to see how flyweight shapes up at Tokyo 2020. World and Olympic champion Zoirov hasn’t confirmed that he’ll be competing in the games next year, but even if he chooses not to, Uzbekistan still has an embarrassment of riches at the weight with Olympic gold medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov and 2017 world championship runner-up Jasurbek Latipov ready to fill his place. Amit Panghal proved that he belongs to be mentioned amongst the division’s elite heading into the Olympics, as does Billal Bennama of France who at 21 will only continue to improve. Whether Yosvany Veitia can come back from his poor performance at these championships remains to be seen, but the Cuban certainly has the ability to challenge for gold in Japan. The flyweight division is in great health, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds next year.
Fights to watch at 52kg - Zoirov vs Marte, Yafai vs Veitia, Zoirov vs Bennama, Amit vs Bibossinov, Zoirov vs Amit
Featherweight (57kg)
Gold - Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (Uzbekistan)
Silver - Lazaro Alvarez (Cuba)
Bronze - Erdenebat Tsendbaatar (Mongolia), Peter McGrail (England)
Similar to flyweight, the assimilation of the 56kg and 60kg divisions has resulted in featherweight becoming one of the the deepest and most competitive divisions in amateur boxing. #1 seed and three-time world champion Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba, who won silver at lightweight in the 2017 World Championships, was the favourite to go one better in Russia - especially given the fact that many of the strongest boxers in the lightweight division had moved up to light-welterweight. #2 Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan, world champion at bantamweight in 2017, supposedly posed the biggest threat to Alvarez - yet I was unconvinced, having never been particularly impressed with Yeraliyev, and predicted him to exit before medalling in this tournament. Instead I thought that #7 Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov or #3 Erdenebat Tsendbaatar, both Asian Champions at 56kg and 60kg respectively, would challenge Alvarez in the final. On Alvarez’s side of the bracket, England’s #4 seed Peter McGrail looked the most likely to upset the Cuban, alongside India’s #5 Kavinder Bisht who had scored a notable victory over Yeraliyev in the 2019 Asian Championships.
Lazaro Alvarez managed to reach the 57kg final as expected, although he arguably benefitted from a fortuitous split decision against Peter McGrail in their semi-final. Their contest was a razor-thin affair, with McGrail’s greater work-rate losing out to Alvarez’s cleaner but more infrequent shots. Whilst the fight was far too tight to label a robbery by any means, Alvarez’s lack of activity cost him the fight in the eyes of many and McGrail should consider himself unlucky not to have progressed. The Brit thoroughly deserved his bronze medal in Russia at least, having overcome #5 seed Bisht in the quarter finals before running Alvarez so close, and his performance bodes well for Team GB’s hopes of medalling in Tokyo next year.
I’ve had my fair share of misses when it comes to making boxing predictions, some more spectacular than others, but I was on the money when I said that #2 Yeraliyev wouldn’t reach the semi-finals and that the boxer who would face Alvarez in the final would be decided between #3 Tsendbaatar of Mongolia and #7 Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan. Mirzakhalilov knocked Yeraliyev out of the world championships at the quarter final stage, progressing by 4:1 split decision, whilst Tsendbaatar also advanced past Ireland’s Kurt Walker to set up a semi-final between the pair. In one of the most thrilling bouts of the tournament, Tsendbaatar set a furious pace in the opening stanza, pressuring the Uzbek and unleashing punch after punch to the body and head. Yet the momentum quickly shifted halfway through the first round as Tsendbaatar faltered, allowing Mirzakhalilov to take over and unload combinations of his own. The two went toe-to-toe for the next two rounds, both throwing in volume, but it was Mirzakhalilov’s cleaner, harder shots that saw him take a 5:0 UD and reach the final.
But despite predicting that Tsendbaatar-Mirzakhalilov would be the decisive matchup in deciding who reached the final, I still expected the winner of their bout to ultimately lose out on gold to #1 Lazaro Alvarez. I was wrong, as Mirzakhalilov triumphed over Alvarez by a 3:2 split decision after an accidental head clash in the second round opened a cut above Alvarez’s eye, preventing him from continuing and immediately taking the bout to the cards. However, as much as I was impressed by Mirzakhalilov throughout the tournament, I believe that he didn’t deserve the decision in the final.
In the first round Alvarez was clearly in control of the fight, with his movement frustrating Mirzakhalilov and preventing him from landing combinations. The Cuban would land snappy, accurate jabs and 1-2’s before moving out of range, and was proving too fast for Mirzakhalilov to time and counter. Whilst Mirzakhalilov improved in the second, landing some clean counters as his opponent zipped in range to throw, Alvarez was still hitting the target consistently and making the Uzbek miss wild shots from the outside. Although the cut stopped the fight just past the halfway point, I’d seen enough to clearly award the decision to Alvarez by a 20-18 margin. Even if you had given the second round to Mirzakhalilov, which would have resulted in a 19-19 draw, section 19.3 of the AIBA Technical and Competition rules states that in the event of a draw the judges would be asked to each give their opinion on who was the superior fighter and nominate him in order to decide a winner. In this case that was clearly Alvarez, who won the first round far more comprehensively than Mirzakhalilov did the second (if you even gave him it, which was a stretch in itself). I did find the result as one of the more egregious judging decisions at the world championships, but as I said Mirzakhalilov is a very good fighter and the newly crowned featherweight world champion.
What immediately strikes me when watching Mirzakhalilov is the variety of his combinations, subtle use of angles in order to land offence, timing when countering an opponent and his supreme physical fitness. As demonstrated in the Tsendbaatar fight which is featured below, Mirzakhalilov is at his best when he can fire quick combinations at mid-range which incorporate multiple uppercuts, hooks and straight shots. In the video, watch how Mirzakhalilov spots an opening in his opponent’s guard at 2:20 and proceeds to throw three uppercuts in succession. The Uzbek is a fine counterpuncher too, typically covering up behind an effective tight guard before timing his opponent mid-combination and exploding into a counter. Mirzakhalilov is more flat-footed than his countryman Zoirov, but is still skilled in moving out of range to avoid incoming fire as well as utilising head movement (although it’s prone to disappearing at times). When the Uzbek does move his head at mid-range, it’s typically to find new angles in order to land his shots which is another effective layer of his offensive arsenal.
Perhaps one of Mirzakhalilov’s most noticeable attributes though is his conditioning. He manages to maintain a high-pace throughout fights, as perfectly illustrated in the semi-final with Tsendbaatar featured above, and will be difficult for many fighters to keep up with simply because of his high output. Mirzakhalilov does struggle however when an opponent has very good movement, largely because he is poor at cutting off the ring and thus cannot unload his combinations as frequently due to a mobile target. Watching the final against Alvarez, there are clear opportunities for Mirzakhalilov to quickly L-step in order to cut off his opponent’s exit routes, yet the Uzbek makes it too easy for him to evade pressure by standing directly in front instead. Although Mirzakhalilov has used shifts and pivots to create offensive angles earlier in the tournament, more effective use of the feet would certainly elevate his game and allow him to land multiple shots with greater regularity. Fortunately for Mirzakhalilov though, he’s very good at dragging his opponents into the type of fight he wants, although a fighter as dedicated to a strategy as Alvarez was able to avoid this.
Despite the fact that I disagreed with the decision in the final, this tournament highlighted just how strong the featherweight division is; Alvarez narrowly edging past McGrail, a fighter of Yeraliyev’s ability failing to medal, and Mirzakhalilov becoming the man to beat at 52kg. With Tokyo 2020 on the horizon, featherweight promises some exciting matchups and narratives as Mirzakhalilov looks to stamp his authority on the division, whereas Alvarez seeks a maiden Olympic gold to add to his career. McGrail will no doubt be a strong contender to medal, alongside Tsendbaatar and Yeraliyev, and Ireland’s Kurt Walker deserves a mention after having improved significantly this year as evidenced his win over McGrail in the European Championships. The fighter I’m particularly excited for, though, is American talent Duke Ragan being in the mix next year as he missed the world championships due to injury. Ragan, who won silver in the 2017 World Boxing Championships at 56kg (dropping a disputed decision to Yeraliyev in the final), will be yet another elite fighter in the division with a shot at Olympic glory. Featherweight is wide open, and it remains to be seen who will step up and claim gold in Tokyo
Fights to watch at 57kg - Tsendbaatar vs Mirzakhalilov, Alvarez vs Mirzakhalilov, Tsendbaatar vs Walker, Alvarez vs McGrail, Bisht vs McGrail
Stay tuned to The Fight Site for more coverage of the 2019 World Amateur Boxing Championships.