Boxing, Mouhiidine defeated in the world final: but a verdict penalizes the blue. The federal president: “A perfect crime”

Muslim Gadzhimagomedov is likely to become for Abbes Mouhiidine what Aleksander Povetkin was for Roberto Cammarelle. The Russian is world amateur champion in the 92 kg category: he succeeds the Cuban La Cruz, who had won two years ago in Belgrade and repeats the success achieved in 2019, this time enriched by the prize of 200,000 dollars offered by the Iba for the winner. The boxer from Irpinia, who can console himself with the 100,000 that is due to the second, slams on the same opponent in another turning point in his career: because of the Russian he had not qualified for Tokyo and had had to delay the conquest of the European title. They will meet again, perhaps next year in Paris (but the Russian question still needs to be resolved), perhaps as professionals. Gadzhimagomedov, who keeps his feet in two stirrups, has already gone through it and got rid of his opponent by knockout. Mouhiidine will probably move on after the Olympics.

An unconvincing verdict

The meeting leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for a verdict that in our opinion is deeply unfair. Gadzhimagomedov did a little more in the third round (the nuances), he pressed, but in a confused way, rarely targeting the blue. However, Mouhiidine had won – and also largely – the first two rounds: more mobile on the trunk, precise and also powerful in putting several blows to his face. In practice, there hadn’t been much history. The fact that Gadzhimagomedov had more cheering from the crowd in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with more underlining attached to his shots, may have swayed the judging panel, but that is hardly an excuse for the referees. Compared to the scandals in Rio, Olympic boxing has made progress, but there is still a tendency to be labeled boxer. It had been like this in Belgrade. when Mouhiidine lost to La Cruz, that was the case in Tashkent. The hope is that in Paris the wheel will turn towards Abbes.

The federal president: “A perfect crime”

“I can’t help but express my strong disappointment with the verdict that concerned the final played by Abbes. Already the shift of the scheduled 92 kg final, from Saturday to Sunday, with an extra day of recovery for the opponent who had suffered a tough semi-final, it had appeared as a sort of crutch! It wasn’t enough. The crime had to be perpetrated to the end. The verdict of the final was, in the opinion of many insiders including myself, absolutely not in line with the progress of the match in which our boxer dominated from start to finish. The values ​​of sport and respect for athletes would require seriousness. Perhaps the time has come for this Federation and the Italian boxing movement to draw the right conclusions on this work. We are tired of the constant reversals of verdicts and we are tired of the failure to respect the efforts of our athletes. But now is the time to think about the next Olympic qualifications and the new project for the definitive relaunch of the Pro movement. We are lucky, the qualifications The 2024 Olympic Games will be managed by the IOC.