Kazakhstan’s national boxing team has clinched the team gold medal at the inaugural World Boxing Championships held in Liverpool, England, edging out Uzbekistan by securing more gold medals.
A total of 554 athletes from 68 countries participated in the competition, including 20 boxers from Kazakhstan, 10 male and 10 female. On September 14, eight Kazakhstani and eight Uzbekistani boxers advanced to the finals.
Heading into the decisive final bout, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had secured six gold medals each. The tie-breaker unfolded in the super heavyweight category (over 90 kg), where Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay faced Uzbekistan’s Jahongir Zokirov. Zokirov had the upper hand after the first round, but Oralbay mounted a comeback and ultimately won by a 3:2 split decision.
With this victory, Kazakhstan topped the overall medal table with seven gold medals. Uzbekistan followed with six, while India claimed third place with two.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the national team, praising gold medalists Sanzhar Tashkenbay, Mahmud Sabyrkhan, Alua Balkibekova, Aida Abikeeva, Torehan Sabyrkhan, Natalia Bogdanova, and Aibek Oralbay, as well as silver medalist Nazym Kyzaibay and bronze winners Victoria Grafeeva and Eldana Talipova. He wished success to those still competing in Liverpool and emphasized that while Kazakhstan’s performance at the championships was a major success, intensive preparation must continue ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games in the United States.
This tournament marked a significant milestone as the first world championship organized by World Boxing, a breakaway international federation established in 2023 in response to ongoing governance and financial issues within the International Boxing Association (IBA). Following the IBA’s failure to implement required reforms, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revoked its accreditation, placing boxing’s Olympic status in jeopardy.
World Boxing, now recognized by the IOC as of spring 2025, brought together more than 100 national federations and was granted the authority to organize Olympic qualifying events. Liverpool thus became the historic venue for the first world championship under the new structure.
Athletes from Brazil (4), India and Poland (3 each), Turkey, Australia, and England (2 each), as well as France, Mongolia, Spain, Japan, Bulgaria, the USA, Taiwan, and Ireland (1 each) also reached the finals.
As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Olympic champion Lazizbek Mullojanov, who won gold at the 2024 Games, was not included in Uzbekistan’s lineup. Mullojanov was suspended in mid-2025 amid an ongoing anti-doping investigation.
