Over the weekend, thirteen world amateur champions were crowned at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Skeptics of IBA's history of corruption take note: the home team, Uzbekistan, topped the medal table with 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Second place went to Kazakhstan with 4 gold and 1 silver, and Russia finished third with 2 gold and 4 bronze medals. The Best Boxer awared went to Hasanboy Dusmatov from Uzbekistan. The winners were awarded $200,000, while silver medallists are to receive $100,000. Each bronze medallist gets $50,000.  The USA did not participate due to IBA's history of shadiness. Here are the results of the finals in each weight division:

Heavyweight (210 pounds) Muslim Gadzhimagomedov from Russia overcame the efficient combinations of Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine from Italy. In a close fight, Gadzhimagomedov led in the first round, but Mouhiidine managed to level it in the second. In the close high-speed contest, where heavyweight boxers showed impressive skills, both threw many combinations. The bout review confirmed the close fight with a final score of 4:3 (1:1BR) to Gadzhimagomedov.

Cruiserweight (approximately 190 pounds) Loren Alfonso Dominguez representing Azerbaijan met Sharabutdin Ataev from Russia. Ataev was more active in the ring with serial combinations in the first two rounds, and in the third round, he made Dominguez, the defending world champion, start his attacks first. He scored higher in every round and was declared a winner by a split decision of 4:1.

In the light heavyweight division, Nurbek Oralbay from Kazakhstan faced Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke from China. The boxers started slowly trying to capitalize on each other's mistakes. In the first round, Oralbay landed several precise series and took the lead on judges’ scorecards. In the second round, the Chinese looked better, and the judges’ opinions on this close fight split. In exchanges of the third round, Oralbay could manage to impress the judges more than his rival, and he was declared a winner by a split decision of 4:1. 

At 165 pounds, Cuba's Yoenli Hernandez became a two-time world amateur champ. Wanderley Pereira from Brazil challenged Hernandez The two athletic boxers had a similar style with a lot of defensive movements. The Cuban started the second round passionately and won the first two rounds. The younger Brazilian couldn’t give enough pressure, and Hernandez successfully defended his title. 

At 156 pounds, champions from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan challenged each other for a gold medal. Kazakhstan's Aslanbek Shymbergenov defeated Saidjamshid Jafarov. Shymbergenov’s punches were stronger and more straight to the point in both starting rounds. Jafarov moved forward but was more chaotic and not precise. Kazakhstan’s boxer was more cold-blooded and more precise in his attacks, while he was successfully defending. Shymbergenov celebrated a unanimous victory. 

Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev topped Dulat Bekbauov from Kazakhstan in the welterweight final. In a high-speed intense bout, the Uzbekistani started well on the scorecards, although both were throwing strong punches. The stakes were high in this close fight, and in the last round, the local boxer recognized he was leading and taunted his opponent. Muydinkhujaev celebrated the victory emotionally

In the junior welterweight division final, Ruslan Abdullaev from Uzbekistan fought against Chinzorig Baatarsukh from Mongolia. Following two intense rounds, Abdullaev led with a slight advantage in their competitive fight. He was stronger in the third round, and the Uzbek boxer was declared a winner by a unanimous decision.  

At 132 pounds, defending world champion Sofiane Oumiha of France faced Cuba's Erislandy Alvarez in a spectacular fight. The fight was tough for Oumiha, as Alvarez put pressure on him with serial combinations and good body shots. In the second round, a 22-year-old Cuban boxer threw a nice right punch that gave a lot of difficulties to his rival, but during the round, Oumiha responded well. Despite the pressure put on him, the French boxer found the right timing to perform his counter-attacks. The third round was decisive in this contest, and Oumiha managed to win by a split decision.   

Featherweight Abdumalik Khalokov from Uzbekistan, a silver medallist two years ago, started strongly against Saidel Horta from Cuba. In the second round, the referee invoked a standing count and Cuban received a warning for holding. In the strong exchanges, Khalokov threw several precise punches and won the fight unanimously. Khalokov changed his silver to gold with this victory to the excitement of the local crowd.   

The bantamweight final saw a Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan where Makhmud Sabyrkhan defeated the host nation’s Oybek Juraev in a high-speed bout. Sharp punches from the Kazakh boxer gave a lot of difficulties to his rival in the first round. Sabyrkhan threw short series and counter-attacked timely, changing his stance from time to time, landing body shots and punches to the head. In the third round, Juraev received two standing counts and Sabyrkhan dominated the fight by a unanimous decision. Silver medallist in the 2021 world amateurs, he managed to win long-awaited gold.

Hasanboy Dusmatov, the 2016 Olmypic champion and 19-0 as a pro including the World Series of Boxing, delivered the best performance among the thirteen gold medal bouts. Fighting in his home country, he knocked out Billal Bennama from France in the first round. Bennama beat the count, but his legs were absolutely gone, so the referee had no choice but to end the bout.  

Sanzhar Tashkenbay from Kazakhstan bested Sakhil Allakhverdovi from Georgia  at minimumweight. Tashkenbay was confident and took the lead after two rounds of action. The fight between orthodox and southpaw was held at long distance with the Kazakh boxer benefitting from it, as he had longer reach and better footwork. Tashkenbay was more precise in his punches and the referee raised his hand declaring him the winner by a unanimous decision.