Opinions & Interviews

The athletes will be seeded prior to the tournament for the first time in the history of the EUBC European Boxing Championships. “This system is based on the European boxing rankings and is intended so that the best do not meet until later in the competition. That is why we are sure that the final will feature the best fighters. Another novel concept will be the new system of counting points. The result will not be a mere sum of punches. Instead, a new 10-point system will be introduced. So the results can be, for example, the following: 10-9, 10-8, 10-7 or 10-6. The data will be collected only from three refs out of five around the ring. It is done in order to avoid some unfair combinations and tricks that sometimes take place in boxing,” Franco Falcinelli said.

Franco Falcinelli also underlined that the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has adopted some new rules concerning the outfit but those rules will enter into force from the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships. “At the next World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, in October the fighters will be without helmets. New boxing gloves weighing 10 and 12-ounces will be used, too. As many as 70 fighters from the APB professional league and 30 fighters from the World Series of Boxing (WSB) will partake in the 2016 Olympic Games. They already fight without helmets. We simply could not make amateurs who box in helmets meet with those who do not use them at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics,” Franco Falcinelli said.

Franco Falcinelli praised Belarus’ experience in the organization of major sports events. “The fact that many leading politicians and sportsmen sit in the organizing committee proves that this event is important for the country. I would like to thank President of the Belarusian Boxing Federation Dmitry Tikhomolov for his efforts to make sure the tournament is held at the best possible level. I also thank the National Olympic Committee of Belarus, the government, the Mayor of Minsk for his support for the Belarusian Boxing Federation in the organization of this tournament. I think that Minsk is completely ready to host the EUBC European Boxing Championships. I am sure that this event will be held at a very high level. Now many more fighters will partake in the event than it was during the same competition in Minsk in 1998. The AIBA grants the right to host such important events only to those federations that are able to give the required guarantees. I can say that the guarantees we got from the Belarusian Boxing Federation and personally from Dmitry Tikhomolov satisfied us to the full extent,” Franco Falcinelli noted.

The EUBC European Boxing Championships 2013 are organized by the AIBA, the EUBC, the Belarusian Boxing Federation, the Sports and Tourism Ministry of Belarus, the National Olympic Committee, the Minsk City Executive Committee, the President’s Sports Club and the Belsportobespecheniye company.