Twenty-six quarter-final bouts were held in the fourth competition day at the Mediterranean Games in Algeria’s port, Oran. Montenegro’s Stefan Savkovic eliminated a strong Italian boxer at the welterweight advancing to the semi-finals in the Games. Italy’s Federico Serra bowed out Spain’s defending EUBC European Champion Martin Molina in the quarter-finals causing a surprise in the Algerian event.
The Mediterranean Games is a multisport event which is held every four year and its last edition took place in Tarragona, Spain in 2018. The Opening Ceremony was held on June 25 and more than 3300 athletes from 26 nations are competing in the multisport event until July 6. Boxing is one of the official sports of the Mediterranean Games and the finals are scheduled to take place in Oran’s EMEC Hall on July 1.
Altogether 161 boxers registered to the Mediterranean Games and among them 145 arrived to the event. Such boxing powers as Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Serbia, Croatia, and Syria are also there in Oran with their strong teams. The male boxers can compete in ten weight categories in the Mediterranean Games and the girls are participating for six titles.
The bout of the day
Montenegro sent boxers to the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships to Yerevan, Armenia and those participants are invited to fight at the Mediterranean Games. Their welterweight boxer, Stefan Savkovic is a 22-year-old talent who had a rapid progress in the last two years. The Montenegrin faced Italy’s Salvatore Cavallaro II, an even younger hope who had surprise results in Yerevan. Savkovic had the stamina and the fighting spirit to win two out of the three rounds in their exciting quarter-final bout and advanced to the last four in Oran following a superb contest.
The surprise of the day
Spain’s Martin Molina won the title at the flyweight in the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships and opened his campaign with a success over an Egyptian boxer in the Mediterranean Games. Molina faced Italy’s Federico Serra who earned bronze in Yerevan and he was born in 1994 as the Spaniard. Molina and Serra met each other several times during their career and this time the experienced Italian won their quarter-final contest and securing a medal.
The Round-Up
Turkey’s Samet Gumus had to miss the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships but the European U22 Champion returned in time to compete at the Mediterranean Games. The young Turkish boxer felt the rhythm in the quarter-final of the flyweight against Kosovo’s Bashkim Bajoku and secured a medal in Oran. Serbia’s 20-year-old Omer Ametovic is the third European semi-finalist in this weight class following his success over a veteran Tunisian, Mehdi Hajri.
France sent a powerful and young team to the Mediterranean Games and their lightweight (60kg) boxer was outstanding in the fourth day of boxing. Enzo Grau achieved a bronze medal at the 2016 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and he developed steps by steps in the previous years. The French boxer was highly confident against Slovenia’s Tadej Cernoga who earned important medals in the international tournaments in 2022. Grau kept the best fighting range in this quarter-final bout and his technical skills guaranteed for him a place in the last four.
Italy’s Giuseppe Canonico received the chance to participate at the Mediterranean Games and it was a good decision from their coach staff. The Italian lightweight boxer had the advantage on the scorecards after three minutes of fight and he proved that he is better in all aspects than Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Nikola Ivkovic. His opponent was injured in the second round and the ringside doctor stopped their quarter-final bout. Canonico’s teammate, the 21-year-old Vincenzo Fiaschetti had a fantastic battle against France’s more experienced Djamili Dini Aboudou Moindze and succeeded at the super heavyweight. Italy’s medallist from U22 events, Gianluigi Malanga had to miss the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships in Yerevan but he returned in the Mediterranean Games at the light welterweight. The 22-year-old Italian controlled all of the three rounds against Cyprus’ Alexandros Christodoulou and marched to the semi-finals in Oran. Italy’s AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Salvatore Cavallaro used his speed and distance well against Morocco’s Zine Elabidine Amroug and landed the stronger shots in their middleweight quarter-final.
