Idman.biz
Only one athlete from Azerbaijan, Subhan Mammadov, competing in the 48 kg weight category, reached the final at the World Boxing Championship held in Dubai.
Idman.Biz contacted Shahin Imranov, the bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, to learn his thoughts on the overall result of the team and the chances of winning a gold medal.
"The fact that only one of our boxers reached the final at the World Championship is not the result we expected. Mahammad Abdullayev's (+92 kg) loss in the semi-final was the most unpleasant result for me. Alfonso Domínguez's (92 kg) defeat was predictable - his opponent, Uzbek world champion Turabek Khabibullayev, is very strong. But Mahammad Abdullayev should have easily defeated Russian David Surov if he had been in the form he was at least three years ago. He completely disappointed me. I don't know what happened, but with each performance, his boxing gets weaker. Although we had high hopes for him 8–10 years ago, we thought that after the late Adalat Mammadov, we had finally found a super heavyweight boxer who would become a star. Unfortunately, he did not live up to expectations."
The veteran boxer highly appreciated Subhan Mammadov's chances in the final:
"Subhan is only 19 years old, but he has character, he is not afraid of his opponent - this is the most important thing in a boxer. I think he is strong enough to become a world champion."
Vugar Vugarly
