DAY ONE of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2025 was ignited yesterday, with a selection of the most revered female amateur fighters descending on Niš, Serbia
The 11 preliminary bouts that took place saw six light-flyweights, two lightweights and two heavyweights glide into the round of 16 in their divisions.
And yet, two contests in particular were somewhat tarnished by a bizarre display of refereeing, leaving the majority of fans in attendance scratching their heads.
While Georgia’s Teona Pirosmanashvili and Ethiopia’s Wakjira Wada Werkneshi were both soundly beaten, they will nonetheless be feeling aggrieved after suffering three contentious standing counts.
Of course, their respective light-flyweight opponents – Columbia’s Yerlin Quinones and Turky’s Aysen Taskin – jolted their heads back several times. But still, the two stoppages that arrived shortly after did, in truth, seem a touch hasty.
Another controversial moment emerged during the second round of bout number three where, before their light-flyweight clash had the opportunity to catch fire, Romania’s Mihaela Badescu was slammed to the canvas by Azerbaijan’s Marjona Savriyeva.
As a result, the 19-year-old was forced to pull out due to an injury, with Savriyeva progressing to the round of 16 after unapologetically showcasing her latest WWE move.
Before that, the evening’s second contest – which reached a 3-2 split decision – saw the tournament’s first bout review take place.
This is where two extra officials are drafted in to determine the overall result and, in this case, it was DPR Korea’s An Kum Byol who came away with a 5-2 victory.
That said, it was a valiant effort from Venezuela’s Alondra Guevara who, at just 19 years of age, gave her opponent everything she could handle.
The evening’s only indisputable knockdown, meanwhile, took place in a lightweight bout where Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan floored Romania’s Claudia Nechita with a second-round right hand down the pipe before mopping up a unanimous decision.
Up in the heavyweight division, Turky’s Elif Güneri and Kazakhstan’s Yeldana Talipova secured comprehensive victories on points, while North Korean lightweight Ungyong Won and two more light-flyweights – Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova and Mexico’s Fatima Herrera – also claimed unanimous decisions.
With four walkovers taking place ahead of the session, Russia’s Rinata Bezel (light-flyweight), Tajikistan’s Shoira Zulkaynarova (lightweight), Thailand’s Thi Mai Chuc Ngo (lightweight) and French Polynesia’s Zamora Nena (heavyweight) all progressed as well.
