Brazil and Uzbekistan had superb victories at the Strandja on Day2

The 77th Strandja Memorial Tournament continued with a busy day in Sofia, Bulgaria where Feruza Kazakova, Yuri Reis, Turabek Khabibullayev and Isaias Filho all amazed.

United States’ Jennifer Lozano returned to the Strandja Memorial to use the event as preparation for the main goals of the year. The US talent was slightly better in the exchanges than Feruza Kazakova in the first round but he opponent controlled the second and third periods.

Romania’s Claudia Nechita had the routine of 15 years in the international events to beat Sierra Leone’s ex-Dutch boxer, Josefien Betist at the women’s 60kg. Her younger teammate at the 65kg, Andra Crinuta Sebe also won her bout against Germany’s Youth World silver medallist Carlotta Schuenemann on Day2.

Germany’s Leonie Mueller kept Algeria’s Djouher Benane on long and she used her technical repertoires to eliminate the North African. England’s Chantelle Reid had a tight victory over Ireland’s Evelyn Igharo while Kazakhstan’s former Asian Champion Madina Nurshayeva shined in her opener in the same 70kg weight class.

Brazil’s Yuri Reis bagged a silver at the recent World Championships and he used his brilliant technical knowledge to beat Mongolia’s Enkhtur Tegshjargal at the 65kg. Kazakhstan’s Ilya Kalinin proved the next strong performance in this category, he bowed out Azerbaijan’s Zaur Gahramanov in the battle of the youngsters.

Georgia’s Lasha Gagnidze, Azerbaijan’s Malik Hasanov, United States’ Marcus Luther, and Kazakhstan’s Yertugan Zeinullinov all impressed in the preliminaries of the men’s 65kg weight class. Gagnidze eliminated one of the most promising Bulgarian boxers, the European U23 silver medallist Viktorio Iliev.

Uzbekistan’s World Champion at the 90kg, Turabek Khabibullayev knocked down England’s Teagn Stott and the referee stopped their contest in the second round. Another favourite in this weight class, Brazil’s Isaias Ribeiro Filho shined in the preliminaries, he bowed out of his way Ireland’s Olympian Jack Marley.