Junior Euros 2023: Five progress to Finals Day on day eight
July 28, 2023 | by Chris Boyd
Team England will have eight boxers in competition on Finals Day of the EUBC Junior European Championships 2023 in Ploiesti, Romania, after five boxers progressed on day eight with two boxers falling to defeat in the semi-finals to take home bronze.
First up for Team England was Sunderland East End boxer Ella Lonsdale, as she faced Ginerva Muzzi of Italy in Under 57kg action.
Ella’s usual commanding presence in the ring was on display yet again, but her reign as Junior European Champion came to an end after losing an extremely close 3-2 split decision to her Italian opponent.
Nevertheless, Ella will return home with a bronze medal.
After a long wait in Session One, Humza Malik took to the ring for his Under 46kg semi-final against Nearchos Konstantinoudis of Greece.
Needing a decision in his favour in the final round, Malik demonstrated silky skills and neat counter-punching to deliver a famous win via a 3-2 split decision – guaranteeing the Repton boxer at least a silver medal at these Championships.
The Ring’s Mohammad Safari came up against Oskar Grodzicki of Poland in an Under 50kg shortly after.
Manny demonstrated his trademark fast hands and sleek footwork throughout the all-southpaw clash but, despite clearly taking the final round, the judges went in favour of Grodzicki meaning Safari will return home with a bronze medal as he bowed out at the semi-final stage.
First up for Team England in Session Two was Ropes & Glory boxer Adam Maca.
Adam was facing notoriously difficult opponents in the form of Ukrainian Vladyslav Zheleznov in an Under 57kg final.
Maca stalked his southpaw opponent from the opening bell, delivering his usual heavy-handed shots to stun Zheleznov throughout the bout.
A unanimous points decision went in favour of the England boxer, as he secured his fourth win of the week to go into Sunday’s Finals Day full of confidence.
St Mary’s Paul Coyle was next in the ring, taking on home crowd favourite Daniel Grigorie of Romania in an Under 60kg bout.
Southpaw Coyle took the opening round and continued to impress in what was a match of physical chess.
Despite Grigorie playing catch up in rounds two and three, Paul stuck to the task at hand to secure a 4-1 split decision victory and advance into the final.
If John Joe Carrigan was suffering any fatigue from his busy schedule of four bouts in eight days, then it certainly wasn’t on show.
The Under 70kg Border City boxer was in semi-final action against Fabian Urbanski of Poland on day eight.
John Joe bossed affairs throughout the all-southpaw clash, forcing a standing eight count in the second round as he secured a clear unanimous points decision win to guarantee at least a silver medal to bring home.
Finally for Team England was Over 80kg boxer Leo Atang, as he took on another home boxer in the form of Romania’s Leon Majer.
The Legions boxer put on a simply stunning display, using his height and reach advantage to good effect to deliver a cultured left jab throughout the opening round.
In the second, Leo opened up on his Romanian opponent with a three-punch combination, finishing with a left hook to the body that felled his opponent who was unable to recover.
Leo advances into Sunday’s finals day via a second-round referee stopped contest victory.
Bout Schedule
Saturday 29th July
No bouts, competition rest day.
Sunday 30th July
Schedule to follow.
