Boxing: Kazakhstan boxers win two gold medals in Germany

Kazakhstan boxers Birzhan Zhakipov and Merey Akshalov won gold medals in the prestigious Chemistry Cup tournament in Halle, Germany, Vesti.kz reports. Kazakhstan was represented by 5 boxers. Kazakhstan's AIBA World Championships bronze winner and two-time Olympian Birzhan Zhakipov (49kg) won over China's current AIBA Youth World Champion 18-year-old Lu Bin 18:12 in the final match. The final fight of Kazakhstan's Beijing Olympian Merey Akshalov (64kg) was much tougher and ended with the close score of 19:18 in Kazakhstan's favor. Kazakhstan boxers also won two bronze medals in this tournament. Rustam Svayev (75kg) and Anton Pinchuk (91kg) were the third in their weight divisions. The Chemistry Cup is a highly regarded tournament and one of the highlights of this early season's European calendar. The 40th edition of this quality six day competition was held from March 5 to 10. 87 boxers from 17 countries participated in the tournament. Kazakhstan will be hosting the next AIBA World Boxing Championships in October therefore it is using all of the competitions to prepare for the home event.