The 32nd edition of the Tammer Tournament saw lots of new talents emerge with most of the winners being young. During this traditional tournament, 71 boxers from 18 nations competed in the Finnish city with many non-Europeans present.
The competition also had some female bouts in the Olympic lightweight division in which Finland's best female fighter claiming the gold medal. Mira Potkonen won two contests in Tampere and eliminated England's AIBA World Championships competitor Amanda Coulson along the way, becoming in the process the only boxer to claim a medal for the host nation.
In the men's draw, 22-year-old European Championships bronze medallist Istvan Ungvari secured the only Hungarian gold medal when he triumphed over the Estonian National Champion Kirill Serikov 20:9 in a one-sided contest. It was active preparation for Ungvari who will be soon fighting at the Hungarian National Championships.
Uganda's top boxer, Beijing Olympian and All African Games bronze medallist Ronald Serugo advanced to the Flyweight final in Finland after beating some very strong opponents. In the final, the Ugandan 'Bomber' defeated India's 21-year-old National Champion Madal Lal 11:9.
England's best youth boxer is 18-year-old Commonwealth Youth Games winner Qais Ashfaq who competed in his first elite tournament in Tampere. The English teenager showcased excellent skills to defeat France's AIBA World Championships competitor Anthony Bret in the Bantamweight final.
Wales secured its first European title this year and new talent, World Combat Games bronze medallist Joseph Cordina secured another victory for the small country. The Lightweight boxer stopped 26-year-old former Russian National Elite Champion Ildar Vaganov who had competed at the European Championships in Ankara back in June. Their close contest finished with Cordina's victorious. Latvia's No.1, Artjoms Ramlavs, claimed a bronze medal for himself in that weight category.
France's National Champion Chabane Fehim eliminated India's Asian Games silver medallist Santosh Kumar Virothu in the semi-finals and following this great success he triumphed again in the final, this time over Russia's newcomer Artem Sofin 14:6.
England's 20-year-old National Champion Anthony Fowler had several outstanding moments in 2011 and achieved his first major success here in Tampere. The young Englishman triumphed over Finland's teenager Henri Kekalainen 16:8 in the gold medal Welterweight contest.
French National Champion Rachid Hamani, of Algerian-descent, eliminated Morocco's top middleweight Badreddine Haddioui en route to the final and after that victory he claimed the gold medal by overcoming Estonia's Kaupo Arro who was bronze medallist at the last edition of the event.
European Cup silver medallist Ainar Karlson from Estonia secured the gold medal in the Light Heavyweight class with the 23-year-old boxer beating India's Asian Youth Championships silver medallist Sumit Sangwan. The 18-year-old was competing in his first international competition amongst the elite boxers. Finland's best male boxer, Bocskai Memorial Tournament bronze medallist Eemeli Katajisto secured a bronze in that weight class.
EU Championships bronze medallist Warren Baister ensured a third English gold medal in Tampere. The Heavyweight boxer defeated Hungary's 22-year-old National Championships silver medallist Szabolcs Deel whose ringside threw in the towel in the final round of the contest. In the last fight of the event, a second Estonian gold medal was won by Kaspar Vaha who defended his title by beating Sweden's 20-year-old rising star Otto Wallin in impressive style 13:5.
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