Local boxer Zdenek Chladek (64kg) defended his title at the 41st Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic on March 13th, claiming his third victory in the history of the tournament.
Eighty male athletes from 15 nations competed in the event in Usti nad Labem. The light welterweight Chladek was a bronze medalist at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships which was held in Guadalajara, Mexico and he is the biggest hope for the Czechs, with excellent possibilities of succes in the future. He won his final bout against Russian Sergey Shigashev, 3:0.
Former Junior world champion and EU champion Balazs Bacskai, coached by Imre Bacskai, defended his title next to Chladek at the Grand Prix after beating Armen Yepremyan of Armenia in a tactical battle. The talented Hungarian welterweight boxer is still unbeaten this year and Balazs Bacskai is also hoping to win a medal in the European Championships in June.
Former world champion powerful Albert Selimov of Russia was defeated in the final by Asian junior champion Samat Bashenov of Kazakhstan, 4:8. Selimov has a very difficult road to the European Championships because he will be competing against his teammate two-time Olympic Champion Aleksey Tishchenko for a place on the Russian squad.
Although he is a bantamweight boxer, Martin Parlagi who is the best Slovakian boxer nowadays, competed in the 57kg category in Usti nad Labem. He went on in this class to claim the gold medal after beating strong Dmitrijs Gutmans of Latvia in the final, 3:0.
National champion and Bocskai Memorial Tournament winner Artem Chebotarev of Russia fought against the new Kazakh national champion Danabek Suzhanov in the middleweight final. The bout ended 5:3 for the Russian boxer.
European Championships silver medalist Sergey Korneyev of Belarus won the 81kg final against reigning EU champion Imre Szello of Hungary without a contest due to Szello's finger injury.
Russia took home two gold medals in the heaviest weight classes when national champion 25-year-old Yevgeniy Romanov beat experienced Tervel Pulev of Bulgaria in a close bout in the heavyweight final and Dagestan-based Olympic Hopes Tournament winner Gadzhi Murtazaliyev of Russia won against Georgian Beka Lobzhanidze in the super heavyweight final by accepted scores.
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