Honored coach of the Republic of Kazakhstan Tursungali Yedilov, in an interview with “Sportarena.kz”, gave a detailed assessment of the participation of Uzbek boxers in the international tournament held in the city of Ulaanbaatar. It is known that at this competition the Kazakhstan national team took first place in terms of the number of medals won.
According to the specialist, the Kazakhstan team went to the tournament with its strongest lineup, and this brought results:
“Head coach of our national team Nurzhan Nasanov took the main leaders to this tournament, and as a result four gold medals were won. Uzbekistan, on the other hand, came with a second–third lineup and won three gold medals. What does this mean? There are no problems with reserves in Uzbekistan,” said Tursungali Yedilov.
At the same time, he did not hide that some Kazakhstani boxers failed to show the expected results. He also gave an objective assessment of the Uzbek athletes:
“Not everyone in the Uzbekistan team performed equally well. In the middleweight category, Asadullayev performed unsuccessfully. However, the overall impression is that most of them are very promising guys. Madaminov was the best in the -65 kg weight category, Erkinboyev showed extremely high competitiveness in the light heavyweight division, and the young Mamasoliev defeated all his opponents in the up to -90 kg category. In the neighboring country, competition is very strong in most Olympic weight categories. There, young athletes do not allow the leaders to relax. And what about us? In a number of weight categories, coaches hesitate about whom to send, or there is one leader, and behind him there is a gap,” the specialist noted.
The former coach also emphasized another important point. In his opinion, Uzbek coaches used this tournament not only as a platform to test their young boxers, but also as an opportunity to carefully study Kazakhstani athletes:
“I have said many times: our big problem is that in Uzbekistan boxers are prepared very seriously for fights against ours. In our case, it seems such an approach is lacking. For example, take the fight between Makhmud Sabirkhon and Shakhzod Muzaffarov. Previously, they met three times, and each time our boxer won easily. But this time the two-time world champion literally ‘snatched’ the victory with his teeth. Therefore, I think that at the Asian Games our boxers will have very difficult fights against Uzbek opponents. Because they have studied us thoroughly, while we have not analyzed their leaders enough,” said Yedilov.
For reference, the Summer Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 4 in the Japanese city of Nagoya. The Kazakhstan men’s national team last won this tournament in 2014, and after that failed in the next two Asian Games.
Overall, the specialist’s opinions clearly show one thing: Uzbekistan has a strong reserve in boxing, high competition, and this creates a solid foundation for major victories in the future.
