Nijat Huseynov won the battle of the Olympians in Sofia

All of the men’s quarter-finals concluded in the EUBC European U23 Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Day5.

Ireland’s Antonio Paiva proved an amazing development in this competition and he eliminated Georgia’s favourite Davit Japaridze in the men’s flyweight (51kg) and he will now meet in the last four Armenia’s Rudolf Garboyan.

Spain’s Rafael Lozano Serrano and Azerbaijan’s Nijat Huseynov both were Olympians in Paris this summer. The Spaniard prepared only 20 days for this championship and he was not enough in shape to beat the quick Azeri in their flyweight (51kg) quarter-final.

England’s Jack Dryden competed in the European Games last year but he was not able to qualify for the Paris Olympics. The 21-year-old boxer moved up to the lightweight (60kg) and he succeeded against Scotland’s promising Isa Akram in Sofia.

Bulgaria’s Radoslav Rosenov, another Paris Olympian, dominated all of the three rounds against Azerbaijan’s Ruslan Gadirov and he will now face Montenegro’s powerful Tomislav Djinovic in the last four.

Serbia’s Nazif Sejdi (63.5kg), Almir Memic (75kg) and Ahmed Mavric (80kg) all won tight contests in the fifth competition day but their technician Filip Dzida (67kg) and Marko Pizurica (86kg) lost their quarter-finals.

Scotland’s next quarter-finalist in action was Alan Perrie who returned to the boxing events after a short break and he is now a guaranteed medallist at the middleweight (75kg) following his success over Azerbaijan’s Farhad Sheydayev.

Azerbaijan’s Murad Allahverdiyev qualified for the Paris Olympics and he decided to join back to the events immediately. The 22-year-old light heavyweight (80kg) boxer had a tough challenge against Ukraine’s Matviy Razhba but he triumphed over his strong opponent.

Greece’s World Olympic Qualifier quarter-finalist Stylianos Roulias, Ireland’s native talent Martin McDonagh, Ukraine’s Vasyl Tkachuk and Romania’s Florin Ionita are the semi-finalists at the super heavyweight (+92kg).