Ukraine's national boxing team added to its medal haul at the continental championship held under the auspices of World Boxing in the Bulgarian capital — Sofia. In the under 80 kg weight class, Ukrainian boxer Pavel Illiusha, the reigning national champion and winner of the prestigious Strandja tournament, claimed the bronze medal. His performance marked the second award for the national team at this championship, confirming the steady level of the Ukrainian amateur boxing school.
Semifinal against Serbia
The decisive bout for Illiusha took place on September 24 in the tournament's semifinal. His opponent was Serbia's Rastko Simic. The fight ended convincingly in favor of the Serbian boxer — the round score was 4:0, leaving the Ukrainian no chance of reaching the final. Nevertheless, the semifinal loss automatically guaranteed Illiusha a bronze medal, as this championship, like most amateur tournaments, awards two bronze medals.
Judges' notes and the final result
A breakdown of the judges' notes confirms the characteristic advantage held by Simic in this matchup: four rounds were recorded with a score of 27-29 in favor of the Serbian boxer, and the fifth round was 28-28. Thus, on the overall scoring, Illiusha lost 4:0 and stopped one step short of the final, winning the bronze medal at the European Championship. For the reigning Ukrainian champion and Strandja winner, this is a result that can be considered worthy, though it fell short of the stated ambition of reaching the decisive bout.
The team's second award and other medal contenders
Pavel Illiusha's achievement became the second award for the Ukrainian team at this tournament. Earlier, bronze medalist in the women's bracket was Iryna Lutsk. In addition, as of the semifinal bouts, other members of the national team had also secured their medals — Ayder Abduraimov, Anna Okhota and Elvin Aliyev, all of whom reached the final stages of their weight categories. This suggests that Ukraine's final medal tally at the championship will be even higher.
Tournament format and schedule
The continental championship in Sofia runs from September 17 to 25. Over a total of nine competition days, the athletes contest medals in 20 weight categories among men and women. This format, with separate brackets and a large number of divisions, makes the tournament one of the key events in European amateur boxing and an important platform for showcasing the potential of national teams ahead of future international cycles.
Contradictory data
In the original source describing the outcome of the semifinal, there is an inconsistency in the boxer's name: in one place the surname "Illiusha" appears, while in another the first name "Ilya" is used ("In the end, Ilya stopped one step short of the final"). The context and the other materials clearly indicate that the subject is Pavel Illiusha, so the version with "Ilya" should be regarded as an obvious typo by the author, not as a separate account of the event. No significant discrepancies in the fight score (4:0) or the semifinal date (September 24) were found between sources.
