Armenian Boxers Make Their Professional Debut with Victory at Boxing Night
The IBA Champions’ Night boxing event was held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex.
In the evening’s first match, David Dzukaev, representing Russia, secured a victory over Uzbekistan’s Rakhmatullo Boymatov.
Making their professional ring debut were European Championship silver medalists Artur Bazeyan (2022), Baregham Harutyunyan (2024), Rafael Hovhannisyan (2022), and David Chaloyan, the World Cup runner-up and Olympic participant (2024).
Artur Bazeyan, Rafael Hovhannisyan, and David Chaloyan marked their professional debuts with wins. Chaloyan managed to claim victory ahead of time in the second round with a technical knockout. The 35-year-old Baregham Harutyunyan, however, faced a loss.
After his win, Chaloyan expressed satisfaction with his match:
I didn’t expect to win by knockout. I was confident I’d win, and that’s exactly what happened.
In the main event, Russian Murat Gassiev faced Denmark’s unbeaten Kem Ljungquist. In the 6th round, the Russian boxer claimed a technical knockout, handing the Danish fighter his first loss.
President of the Boxing Federation of Armenia, Hovhannes Hovsepyan, noted that such events generate great interest:
This helps our boxers. We’ll strive to bring more of these events to Armenia.
The federation president also mentioned that Armenia has applied to host the European U23 Championship, from which Armenia recently returned with five medals.
Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, Karen Giloyan, expressed his impressions of the Armenian boxers’ performances:
I saw the same David Chaloyan I had seen during the World Cup. Rafael Hovhannisyan has a fearless fighting skill. Artur Bazeyan achieved a knockout. He has a bright future ahead. Baregham Harutyunyan was quick, but the opponent’s experience made the difference.