Karaganda boxers won gold and bronze medals at an international tournament in the Netherlands

Photo by the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation

Karaganda boxers Abylaikhan Zhusupov and Sabyrzhan Akkalykov returned with medals from the international Eindhoven Box Cup tournament. The competition was held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The Eindhoven Box Cup is a prestigious boxing tournament. It was attended by more than 200 men and women from 30 countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Ukraine, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and others.

Ten boxers represented Kazakhstan at the competition. Two of them, Abylaikhan Zhusupov (70 kg) and Sabyrzhan Akkalykov (75 kg), are from Karaganda.

Abylaikhan Zhusupov won the gold medal after four fights. In the ring, in the first fight, he defeated an athlete from Lithuania. Zhusupov won a landslide victory in the second bout over the German athlete. The Karagandin had his third fight against the Belgian. And he came out victorious again.

– Abylaikhan's final fight was against the Olympic champion of 2024, the world champion from Uzbekistan Asadhuji Muidinhujaev. The judges were sympathetic to our rivals. Nevertheless, Abylaikhan won a landslide victory. Even though he was injured: the clash of boxers with their heads led to Abylaikhan's dissection. The judges stopped the fight. And the victory was awarded to Zhusupov. We had to go to the hospital after the competition and get stitches," said Alexander Nasibulin, the personal trainer of the Karaganda boxer.

Sabyrzhan Akkalykov won a bronze medal at the tournament. In the ring, he defeated fighters from Wales and the Netherlands. In the final fight, he lost to a Ukrainian athlete.

– It was a controversial fight. By the decision of the judges with a score of 3:2, the victory went to the Ukrainian. He is a very strong opponent, the champion of Ukraine and Europe," explained Alexander Nasibulin.

Now the boxers are waiting for a short rest to recover and gain strength. After that, they will go to training camps and begin preparations for the World Cup, which will be held in Astana in early July.

In the overall medal standings of the Eindhoven Box Cup tournament, the national team of Kazakhstan took first place, winning five gold and three bronze medals.