Youth World Boxing Championships:
Iran’s Malek-Khatabi wins historic silver
Amirreza Malek-Khatabi bagged a precious silver medal at the IBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro, etching his name into the history books of the sport in Iran.
Malek-Khatabi settled for a runner-up finish behind Khalimjon Mamasoliev after a defeat by split decision (3:2) against the Uzbek boxer in the final showpiece of the men’s 86-92kg contests.
The result was still enough to see the Iranian become the first boxer to win a world silver medal for the country across any age class.
Danial Shahbakhsh notched up a maiden world boxing medal for Iran when he won a lightweight bronze at the seniors championships in Belgrade in 2021.
An Asian youth bronze winner in May, Malek-Khatabi began his historic campaign with a victory over Taha Turgut Tarhan – after the referee deemed the Turkish boxer unfit to continue – and then defeated Russian Oleg Kliuchagin (4:1) in the quarterfinals.
The Iranian went on to beat Tynystan Alybaev of Kyrgyzstan for a place in Sunday’s showdown.
There was further glory of the Iranians in the competitions as Mahdi Kazemi and Amir Esmaeili grabbed a couple of bronze medals following last-four setbacks in their respective weight classes.
Representing the country in the 48-51kg contests, Kazemi fell to a 5:0 loss to Kazakhstan’s Bexultan Boranbek, while reigning Asian champion Esmaeili came short against Irish opponent Adam Olaniyan in the +92kg event.