April 2021 Men's Amateur Boxing International Rankings
Photo courtesy of RPO “Sports Boxing Federation of St. Petersburg” via https://vk.com/spbboxing
As promised, here is the next instalment of my amateur boxing rankings which I’ll continue to update on a monthly basis with the Olympics and 2021 AIBA World Championships drawing ever closer. If you missed last month’s rankings, you can find it here and be sure to keep an eye out for the ‘Taylor Talks Boxing’ podcast where I’ll be discussing some of the most recent results and making predictions ahead of Tokyo.
April featured three notable tournaments on the amateur boxing calendar - the first being the St. Petersburg Governor Cup, which boasted one of the most impressive fields I’ve ever seen at a non-major tournament. The Branko Pesic memorial, otherwise known as the Belgrade Winner tournament, saw the return of Team GB’s amateur stars to the fold following a year and a half layoff, whilst the AIBA Youth World Championships in Poland showcased some of the brightest young talent coming through the unpaid ranks. Whilst I avoided including anyone who took part in the Youth World Championships here, I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more of them in the near future.
52kg (Flyweight)
April has seen some movement at the top end of the flyweight rankings, with Olympic and world champion #1 Shakhobidin Zoirov (UZB) marking a return to form with wins over #7 Amit Panghal (IND) in a rematch of their 2019 World Championship final as well as teenage sensation #3 Makhmud Sabyrkhan (KAZ), both of whom have dropped a place accordingly. As a result of his impressive run at the Governor Cup, Zoirov finds himself bumped up to the top spot ahead of #2 Hu Jianguan (CHN). This was a tricky one because Jianguan hasn’t done anything to lose his status as the division’s best, but he hasn’t done anything to cement it either and it’d be unfair to keep him there whilst others are competing more regularly.
Elsewhere, World Championship bronze-medallist Saken Bibossinov (KAZ) pipped ahead of #10 Daniel Asenov (BUL) to take the #9 spot by virtue of his impressive win over #12 Azat Usenaliev (KGZ) in the Branko Pesic final. Asenov also competed in Serbia but opted to campaign at featherweight, and despite taking gold the quality of competition wasn’t high enough to justify keeping him above the Kazakh.
#14 Galal Yafai (GBR) will no doubt be disappointed at how his first international tournament since 2019 played out, having been ruled out of the Branko Pesic semi-finals due to a cut. The Brit had a real chance at breaking into the top 10 in Belgrade, but instead slides down a place due to Usenaliev’s strong run, as does #13 Vasily Egorov (RUS) who lost his first bout to Sabyrkhan at the Governor Cup.
57kg (Featherweight)
Featherweight (57kg) and lightweight (60kg) were both included at the Governor Cup, despite the fact that the latter is no longer recognised as an Olympic weight class, which had the effect of splitting this division down the middle. At 57kg, #1 Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (UZB) kept hold of the top spot with wins over evergreen #16 Chatchai Butdee (THA) and #19 Maksim Chernyshev (RUS). Butdee moves up a spot courtesy of his win over Ivan Abramov (RUS), whilst Chernyshev makes his debut in the rankings after beating Orazbek Asylkulov (KAZ) by majority decision. Vsevolod Shumkov (RUS) stays put at #7, as he missed the tournament through injury.
The final of the 60kg division in Russia saw a clash between young stars Abdumalik Khalakov (UZB) and Albert Batyrgaziev (RUS), in a rematch of their 2019 meeting where Batyrgaziev scraped a narrow points win. This time around was much more comfortable for the Russian though, as he proved too strong for his rival and took a deserved unanimous decision. As a result, Batyrgaziev moves up to #2 in the featherweight rankings. I’ve opted to stick with Khalakov at #4, as even though #5 Pete McGrail (GBR) beat #15 Selim Bouaita (FRA) at the Branko Pesic last week, he suffered a cut which ended his tournament before he could notch any more quality wins. Considering McGrail has been out of competition for nearly two years, it feels harsh to penalise Khalakov for one loss when he’s amassed such a deep body of work in that time. Speaking of Bouaita, the Frenchman makes his first appearance in the rankings following a win over Serik Temirzhanov (KAZ), who subsequently drops out of the top 20.
63kg (Light-welterweight)
Aleksei Mazur (RUS) was a surprise winner in the Governor Cup, battling past countryman Gabil Mamedov (RUS) in a thrilling final that could have gone either way. Mazur leaps a whopping 13 places in the rankings to become the new #4, whilst Mamedov falls to #5 despite claiming an impressive win over #6 Manish Kaushik (IND) in the semi-finals.
#3 Dzmitry Asanau (BLR) retained his place in the rankings after comfortably beating #8 Alexandru Paraschiv (MDA) in St. Petersburg, but will have been frustrated that he had to withdraw from the tournament with a hand injury before his semi-final against Mazur. Paraschiv himself went up a couple of spots by outpointing rugged veteran #9 Zakir Safiullin (KAZ) in the quarters, which marks another disappointing loss for the Kazakh who has found himself on the wrong side of a number of decisions in recent months.
Ilya Popov (RUS) continues to prove a difficult one to rank, as despite getting the nod against #16 Enrico La Cruz in a fight I thought he lost, he went to war with #10 Elnur Abduraimov (UZB) in a highly entertaining bout (then again, most of Abduraimov’s fights are) and came away with a split-decision win. I ended up deciding on the #7 spot for the Russian, just ahead of Paraschiv with the tie-breaker being that Popov won when the pair met last month.
In Belgrade, Ertugan Zeynullinov (KAZ) came out on top of the light-welterweight pack and finds himself appearing on the rankings for the first time at #18. His opponent in the final, Artur Subkhanulov (RUS), also makes his debut at #19 after claiming a handful of decent wins over the likes of Luke McCormack (GBR) and Milan Fodor (HUN).
69kg (Welterweight)
We have a new #1 at 69kg, as Aslanbek Shymbergenov (KAZ) capped off a fine run at the Governor Cup with a stunning upset of reigning world champion Andrey Zamkovoy (RUS), who drops to #2 in the rankings for the first time since 2019. I thought Shymbergenov boxed an intelligent fight and deserved the win, although I was admittedly surprised to see the home favourite not get the cards in Russia. Encouraging signs for the future, perhaps?
The Kazakh also claimed a quality win in the semi-finals, edging past Bobo-Usmon Baturov (UZB) by split decision in an ugly, scrappy fight. Following the loss to Shymbergenov, Baturov has to settle for #4 in the rankings despite triumphing over #18 Aliaksandr Radzionau (RUS) in his opening bout.
There were a handful of shocks at the Branko Pesic tournament as well, with Vakhid Abbasov (SRB) - who recently made the switch from Russia - climbing to #3 after decisioning World Championship silver-medallist Pat McCormack (GBR) in the semi-finals. The fight itself wasn’t recorded, so even though local sources said the result was a gift for Abbasov I can’t verify this for myself. Regardless, McCormack drops a few spots considering his general lack of activity. In the final, Abbasov went on to beat compatriot-turned-rival Alisa Sharifov (RUS), who was coming off of an upset win himself over World Championship bronze medallist Ablaikhan Zhussupov (KAZ) in the semi’s. Sharifov slots in at #6 as a result, with Zhussupov trailing behind at #7.
75kg (Middleweight)
There wasn’t too much going on at 75kg this month, although we were denied a great matchup between reigning world champion Gleb Bakshi (RUS) and Abilkhan Amankul (KAZ) in the final of the Governor Cup after the latter had to pull out with an injury. A showdown between those two would’ve provided a clearer picture of how middleweight should look at the top end, but despite this I’m still going to elevate Amankul to #3 in the rankings, one spot above Bakshi, on the back of his win over #6 Andrey Kovalchuk (RUS) in the semi’s.
However, the results of the Branko Pesic tournament saw a couple of newcomers enter the mix at middleweight. Whilst #14 Nurkanat Rayis (KAZ) got the better of #17 Vladislav Fedyurin (RUS) - who sunk by nine spots after the loss - the Kazakh was well beaten in the semi’s against #13 Sam Hickey (GBR), with the Scotsman cracking the rankings for the first time. Hickey came up short in the final against #12 Nikita Voronov (RUS), who also makes his debut in the top 20 having beaten the likes of #18 Lewis Richardson (GBR) and #20 Gabriel Veocic (CRO).
81kg (Light-heavyweight)
April saw plenty of action at 81kg, but nothing in the way of movement in the rankings strangely enough. World champion Bekzad Nurdauletov (KAZ) was already ranked #1, but settled any doubts about his status as the best light-heavyweight in the world with wins over close rivals #2 Imam Khataev (RUS) and #3 Dilshodbek Ruzmetov (UZB) at the Governor Cup. Nurdauletov’s display against Khataev was particularly impressive, as the Kazakh showcased great lateral movement and even scored a knockdown in the middle of the second round to take a comfortable decision against an opponent who came into the tournament on a hot streak of form. Given that he’s already #1, Nurdauletov’s performances will have more of an impact on his pound-for-pound status (as we’ll see later on).
In Belgrade, #5 Benjamin Whittaker (GBR) made a triumphant return to international competition with some solid wins against #15 Andrei Aradoaie (ROM) and emerging talent Nurbek Oralbay (KAZ). Whilst I’m hesitant to put Whittaker above #4 Simone Fiori (ITA) given the Italian’s win over Nurdauletov last month, Whittaker’s successful run at the Branko Pesic means that he’s on the cusp of breaching the top spots at 81kg.
91kg (Heavyweight)
There was a big shakeup at the top end of 91kg this month, with some new faces featuring in the top 5 for the first time. Previously unranked Uladizislau Smiahlikau (BLR) shot straight up to #3 with a win over 20 year-old Aybek Oralbay (KAZ) in the Governor Cup semi’s, as the Kazakh put in a frankly puzzling performance which sees him pegged back to the #5 spot. World champion #1 Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) tightened his grip over the heavyweight division with a win over Smiahlikau in the final, and now looks a clear favourite to win Olympic gold in Tokyo with most of his rivals faltering. It’s a shame that Oralbay missed his chance in St. Petersburg, as I was looking forward to a clash between him and Gadzhimagomedov although I’d have admittedly favoured the more experienced Russian.
Meanwhile in Serbia, Olympic silver medallist Vassiliy Levit (KAZ) plunged to #6 in the rankings after suffering a surprise defeat to Timur Gamzatov (RUS). Despite the referee missing what appeared to be a legit knockdown for Levit in the first round, I thought the Kazakh was outboxed for long stretches and he’s clearly not the same force he was a few years ago. Gamzatov consequently ascends to #4, and announces himself as a player at heavyweight.
91+kg (Super-heavyweight)
#1 Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB) continued his dominance at 91kg with an impressive showing at the Governor Cup, where he stopped two of his three opponents inside the distance. The Uzbek looked sharper than he did at the Strandja tournament back at the end of May, with that lingering shoulder injury starting to show signs of improvement, and he was simply too much here for Artem Fedorov (RUS) and Ivan Veryasov (RUS). Jalolov has his sights firmly set on gold in Tokyo and, at present, you’d be a bold man to predict otherwise.
National champion Yaroslav Doronichev (RUS) was the favourite to win the Branko Pesic, but he lost by razor-thin decision against the unheralded Nurlan Saparbay (KAZ) in a solid upset. Saparbay rises to #4 in the rankings following a career-best win, whilst Doronichev tails behind at #5. The biggest winner at super-heavyweight this month, though, was Frazer Clarke (GBR). The Brit beat Saparbay in the semi-finals before claiming revenge against #12 Maxim Babanin (RUS) in a rematch of their controversial quarter-final at the 2019 World Championships, which Clarke won only to have the verdict reversed on appeal. Clarke now sits at #3 in the rankings, and continues to prove why he’s got a real chance of making the podium in Tokyo.
Pound-for-pound
Andy Cruz (CUB) and Oleksandr Khyzhniak (UKR) stay at #1 and #2 with neither having competed in April, but light-heavyweight kingpin Bekzad Nurdauletov (KAZ) jumps up two spots to #3 following his wins over Imam Khataev (RUS) and Dilshodbek Ruzmetov (UZB). As a result, Jianguan Hu (CHN) falls back to #4 with the Chinese flyweight having not fought in half a year now.
Following his brilliant showing at the Governor Cup, Aslanbek Shymbergenov (KAZ) surges up the pound-for-pound list to take #5 and displaces Andrey Zamkovoy (RUS), who subsequently drops out of the rankings. The Kazakh is joined by Shakhobidin Zoirov (UZB) who returns to the P4P rankings at #4 after a brief absence, having beaten Amit Panghal (IND) and Makhmud Sabyrkhan (KAZ). Hu Jianguan (CHN) falls to #6 as a result.
Although Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (UZB) and Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB) both bagged some solid wins in April, that wasn’t enough to see them keep their place and they move down to #7 and #8 respectively. Muslim Gadhizmagomedov (RUS) remains at #9, and is still in need of a highly-regarded opponent to progress up these rankings.
Whilst I considered keeping Zamkovoy on the list in the final spot - as the Russian boasts quite the resumé and I didn’t want to punish him too much for a loss - I’ve decided to instead slot Albert Batyrgaziev (RUS) in as the new #10. The 22 year-old Russian has been on an impressive streak since 2019, proving himself against strong domestic competition as well as beating Uzbek standout Abdumalik Khalakov (UZB) in the Governor Cup final. I’m excited to see Batyrgaziev in the Tokyo Olympics, with a bout against featherweight world champion Mirzakhalilov being one of the best fights that can be made in amateur boxing.