Europe has dominated the XV AIBA World Championships so far, the "Old Continent" sending 14 of the 22 competitors to the finals at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan this afternoon. The Americas will be represented by five boxers, whereas the Asian boxers - clearly dominant at the Beijing Olympic Games - will compete in four finals.
The house is sure to be rocking with hosts Italy providing two of the finalists: Domenico Valentino (60kg) and Roberto Cammarelle (+91 kg). Cammarelle will be the only boxer defending a world title won in Chicago two years ago, although two other winners from Chicago (Sergey Vodopiyanov of Russia and Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan) will be challenging for titles at different weights.
The new AIBA World Rankings and the system of seedings have had a good debut: four first seeds (featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine, light-welterweight Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo of Cuba, heavyweight Osmai Acosta Duarte of Cuba and super-heavyweight Cammarelle) have made it to the finals. Meanwhile there will be a gap of 12 years between the youngest (17-year-old American light-heavyweight Frankie Gomez) and the most experienced (29-year-old Cammarelle).
Russia, the perennial powerhouse of the sport, has been the most successful country so far with six finalists. Their experienced head coach, Nykolay Khromov, directed the Russian national team between 1992 and 2005, winning 14 gold, nine silver and 12 bronze World Championship medals. He was tempted back by the federation in January this year and his comeback mission has been a resounding success so far.
In the past if we spoke about a Caribbean superpower it was Cuba, but this time Puerto Rico will be represented by two athletes as well. Cuba, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Italy also have two boxers each in the finals.
Cammarelle's stunning victory over Viktar Zuyeu of Belarus in yesterday's semi-finals has been the highlight of the Championships so far. A devastating left cross in the 35th second of the first round demonstrated the unparalleled power of the Milanese policeman. Lomachenko, probably the most skilled boxer in the field, has not been tested yet so we will see if Vodopyanov can rise to the occasion.