Adriatic Pearl Youth U19 Tournament, a World Cup-level competition for young boxers, has concluded in Budva, Montenegro, AzerNEWS reports citing the Azerbaijan Boxing Federation.
A total of 369 boxers from 32 countries participated in the tournament.
The Azerbaijani national team claimed an impressive haul at the event, which featured athletes from 18 countries: 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.
Rza Rzayev, competing in the 70 kg category, dominated the competition, defeating all his opponents. In the final, he triumphed over Maxim Kirillov with a 4:1 victory (30:27, 28:29, 29:28, 29:28, 29:28), earning the top spot on the podium.
Other Azerbaijani boxers also shone, with Heydar Azmammadov (85 kg) taking silver, while Vusal Khalilov (65 kg) and Zaur Samadov (90 kg) each secured bronze medals.
With this strong performance, the national team finished third overall in the team standings.
Boxing is known as one of the oldest sports in the history of humankind.
The earliest evidence of boxing dates back to Egypt around 3,000 BC.
This sport was introduced to the ancient Olympic Games by the Greeks in the late 7th century BC.
In 1924, the International Amateur Boxing Federation (FIBA) was established.
Since 1946, it has been referred to as the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Boxing made its Olympic debut at the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
In 1926, the boxing championship was held for the first time in Azerbaijan, where national boxers took first place.
Since 1992, the Azerbaijani Boxing Federation has become a full member of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
Azerbaijani boxers have won many prestigious awards at many international championships.
Aghasi Mammadov has entered Azerbaijan's history of boxing as the first national boxer, as a gold medallist at the world championship.
Another Azerbaijani boxer, Fuad Asadov, was among the medallists at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
Many times, Azerbaijan has been chosen as the host country for major boxing championships.
The AIBA Youth World Championships were held in Baku in 2019. This world championship was the first licensed youth tournament to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Games held in Singapore.
The country also hosted the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, which was the first major qualifying event for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
