On April 7, 2024 in Almaty, Kazakhstan in the conference hall of the Kazakhstan Hotel, the Summit of Presidents of six professional boxing federations was held. The fraternal Turkic –speaking countries united to strengthen cooperation and develop relations between them in the field of boxing.
The heads and representatives of the professional boxing organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, as well as International organization “Turksoy” and WBC gathered together to discuss the development of boxing in Turkic-speaking countries. The development of amateur boxing in the region was one of the main points of the meeting.
Rakhimzhan Yerdenbekov – the president of the Professional Boxing Federation of Kazakhstan, Sultan Raev – Secretary General of the international organization on Turkic culture TURKSOY, Oksana Semenishina – member of the WBC Board, Umid Yaqubov – president of Uzbekistan Professional Boxing Federation and representatives of other boxing commissions signed an agreement on the establishment of the International Tournament among Turkic-speaking countries WBC Amateur Turksoy. Serik Konakbaev – the legend of Amateur boxing, Silver Olympic medalist and honorary president of the Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation was invited as honorary guest to the event.
It is planned that the final of the tournament will be held this autumn while the qualification tournaments will be held in the respective countries. Last year, the pilot season of the WBC Amateur Kazakhstan tournament was successfully held, in which over 500 young athletes took part. This is the key event for the whole region which is united by common culture, language and history.
“The WBC Amateur Turksoy tournament involves the unity of all Turkic countries for a common goal – the development of boxing in particular and sports in general. The WBC Amateur Kazakhstan tournament, held last year and becoming the first WBC amateur boxing tournament in Central Asia, revealed many talents and opened the doors for the winners to develop their careers. With the establishment of an international tournament, the countries of the Turkic world will begin to interact even more deeply, given the popularity of boxing in all TURKSOY participating states”, explained WBC representative Oksana Semenishina.