Russian senior national championships

[mike222]

The finals of this competion take place on Saturday and the finals line ups are as follows
108 David Ayrapetan v Belik Galanov
114 Georgi Balakshin v Misha Aloyan
No surprises at these weights,the top ranked fighters face each other
123 Dmitri Polyanski v Eduardo Abzalimov
Polyanski eliminated former world champion Sergey Vodopyanov
132 Albert Selimov v Ildar Vaganov
Vaganov has come from nowhere but can he beat the European champ
A boxer to watch is Maxim Dadashev just 20 he made Selimov work for his win
141 Alexander Solyankov v Maxim Ignatiev
Watch out for 18 year old Avaz Uzlyan who pushed Solyankov all the way in the semi
152 Alexander Zamkovoy v Petr Khamutov
19 year old Khamutov is another to watch
165
Artem Chebotarev v Maxim Gazizov
As expected
178
Egor Mekhontsev v Nikita Ivanov
Mekhontsev is the european heavyweight champion who has shed 20 pounds to compete at this weight probably for the WSB
201
Artur Beterbiyev v Pavel Nikitayev
Beterbiyev the world lightheavy champ making his debut at heavy having swapped weights with Mekhontsev
+201
Sergey Kuzmin v Vitali Kudukhov
Kudukhov eliminated Faizulin the 2009 champion

Alexei Tishcenko and Denis Sergeyev missed the tournament

[Dennis]

Actually Mekhontsev had boxed at 91kg at the request of the Russian National Federation. He typically weighted about 85-86kg and that was with trying to stay heavier. It was probably just as easy for Mekhontsev to make 81kg as any other 81kg boxer. In fact, my guess is that Beterbiev was having a harder time making 81kg than Mekhontsev would. Mekhontsev has the style to compete at 81kg while Beterbiev's power allows him to do well at 91kg.

[Dennis]

Finals

2010-09-25 49kg David Ayrapetyan Belik Galanov 7:0
2010-09-25 52kg Misha Aloyan Georgiy Balakshin 5:1
2010-09-25 56kg Dmitriy Polyanskiy Eduard Abzalimov 4:1
2010-09-25 60kg Ildar Vaganov Albert Selimov 1:0
2010-09-25 64kg Alexandr Solyanikov Maxim Ignatiev 2:0
2010-09-25 69kg Andrey Zamkovoy Petr Khamukov 9:2
2010-09-25 75kg Artem Chebotarev Maxim Gazizov 7:2
2010-09-25 81kg Egor Mekhontsev Nikita Ivanov 3:1
2010-09-25 91kg Pavel Nikitayev Artur Beterbiyev 12:3
2010-09-25 +91kg Sergey Kuzmin Vitaliy Kudukhov 5:0

Surprised by how easily Nikitayev outpointed Beterbiyev. Mekhontsev won as I expected he would. Amazed that Selimov lost.

[mike222]

Three current european champions were defeated,Selimov,Beterbiyev and Eduard Abzalimov.Nikitayev was defeated last year by Englands Warren Baister.

[JMac]

Three current european champions were defeated,Selimov,Beterbiyev and Eduard Abzalimov.Nikitayev was defeated last year by Englands Warren Baister.

It just shows how deep Russia is. They have great fundamentals and good range.

[mike222]

Viewing the coaches post fight comments and my translation may not be that good here are their statements
Ildar Vaganov
Apparently he had not fought for two years and in this time was prone to the odd drink or two,he returned to training ten months ago.
Albert Selimov
A big surprise the coach will be going to square one.
Dmitri Polyanski
Tactically they decided to wait and counterattack
Eduard Abzalimov
Polyanski would not fight and stood back
Artur Beterbiyev
This was his first competition at this weight and was a transitional fight
Pavel Nikilayev
We simply overpowered him,and hurt him twice in the second round
Incidentally the russian press are calling the results sensational with four of their elite fighters losing,Vodopyanov is the fourth