Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay and Busenaz Surmeneli of Türkiye joined an exclusive club of boxers to win three gold medals at the IBA women’s world [amateur] championships after the finals in Niš, Serbia last weekend. In the opening match in the junior flyweight category, Kyzaibay won her first title since 2016 and 11 years after her first gold. The Olympic bronze medallist came to Serbia with a lot of momentum and won by referee’s stoppage on two occasions before beating North Korea’s Hong Kyong Ryong to make it to the final. There, she faced Russian Iuliia Chumgalakova, who had won by a unanimous decision in all four of her matches. However, Kyzaibay was the one to be favorable with the judges this time, winning every round on every individual score. Chumgalakova was aggressive and keen to take the fight to the Kazakh, but Kyzaibay looked more assured and performed to the standard of a world champion.
Surmeneli of Türkiye won her third World title in the welterweight category, denying a first-ever title for Uzbekistan, represented by their boxer Navbakhor Khamidova. Surmeneli was considered her nation’s best hope for a gold medal and for good reason – she came into the bout as a two-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist. Even in her semi-final contest with Serbian Anastasija Lukajic, she looked comfortable and confident. Khamidova provided her tougher test, having already guaranteed Uzbekistan’s best-ever result by making the final. The opening three minutes saw both boxers deal out punishment in equal measures, as Surmeneli took a 3-2 lead. However, the turning point came one minute from the end of the second round, when Surmeneli landed a hard right hand to the head of Khamidova – going on to take the second round unanimously. From there, Surmeneli looked in control and was able to claim her third world title.
Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova realised her dream of becoming a flyweight world champion, ending the dream run of Hu Meiyi of China. Balkibekova has come close to gold before in both 2022 and 2023, winning silver and bronze. On her third attempt, she took a deserved title, winning her contest by a unanimous decision. Credit had to gon to Hu, who ran a gauntlet of fantastic competitors – Ireland’s Daina Moorehouse, Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat and Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova – on her way to the silver.
In the super flyweight final, it was the Olympic silver medallist against the Olympic bronze medallist, 2022 World champion against 2018 World champion, Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Türkiye against Pang Chol Mi of North Korea. Either of these great fighters would be a worthy gold medallist, but it went the way of Pang at the expense of Cakiroglu. Pang won the first round by a 4-1 split decision, being favored as both boxers preferred a cautious approach from the back foot. Then Pang claimed a 3-2 split in the second round, but crucially for Cakiroglu, she was even with her opponent on three judges’ scorecards; and went aggressive in the final round as she chased the verdict. While Cakiroglu tried to win points back, Pang evaded effectively and won the last round unanimously, making her a world champion for a second time.
Serbia won its first gold medal in IBA women’s championships history after Andjela Brankovic claimed the featherweight title by defeating Punrawee Ruenros from Thailand. Brankovic was the surprise package in the team, having just a European bronze to her name in a squad full of European finalists. In the world final, she defeated two-time world medallist and Asian champion Punrawee Ruenros from Thailand.A home crowd can make all the difference, and Brankovic was motivated by her fans who cheered her to a comfortable lead after two rounds. Ruenros managed to get the better of the Serbian in the final round – but all judges scored the bout 29-28, narrowly in favor of Brankovic. She is the first-ever gold medallist for Serbia at either the IBA men’s or women’s world championships.
An emotional Widad Bertal from Morocco was crowned the bantamweight champion by defeating the 2022 world champion Hatice Akbas of Türkiye by a split decision. Akbas was impressive in her previous two matches, beating Russian Karina Tazabekova and Thailand’s Natnicha Chongprongklang; while Bertal defeated opponents from North Korea and Vietnam, before beating Sara Cirkovic of Serbia in the semi-finals. The Turkish boxer won the first round by a unanimous decision, before Bertal responded in the second, making the final round anyone’s contest. Bertal worked hard to win the match following a bout review.
Russia’s Nune Asatrian turned last year’s heartache in Belgrade into joy this time, being announced the world champion in the lightweight final. Asatrian settled for silver at the European Championships in the Serbian capital last April in a losing effort to Natalia Shadrina of Serbia but was the winner by a unanimous decision this time, beating Kazakhstan’s Victoriya Grafeyeva.
Irish boxers Lisa and Aoife O’Rourke became the first sisters to make finals at the same IBA world championships, both claiming silver medals.At junior middleweight, Elena Gapeshina of Russia was able to stop Lisa O’Rourke from winning a second gold medal, by a unanimous decision. O’Rourke became a world champion while turning 20 during the 2022 World Championships and was seeking her second title.Standing in the way of that gold was the Russian, who won the European title last year at light heavyweight, dropping down two weight categories for this tournament. A bout of contrasting styles saw O’Rourke landing many hooks, while the more compact Gapeshina used power and evasion to her advantage. The Russian won the first round, but little separated the pair. However, the second round was clearer, in favor of Gapeshina. The Russian would hold onto the win.
A rematch of the European final saw Anastasiia Shamonova of Russia defeat Aoife O’Rourke in the super middleweight finals. In Belgrade last year, it was O’Rourke who took the European gold via a split decision verdict, showing little could separate them in the ring. A furious first round saw Shamonova take a 4-1 lead, and the Russian continued with the pressure in the second, giving her a comfortable lead with the judges. This helped the Russian to get a unanimous win. However, three-time European champion O’Rourke should be very proud of herself, winning favor with judges in each round, just not enough to turn the verdict around.
Asian champion Aida Abikeyeva from Kazakhstan climbed to the top of the junior welterweight podium, following a comprehensive win over Thananya Somnuek of Thailand. The pair had previously met in December in the Asian Championships semi-finals, with the Kazakh winning on that occasion by split decision, on her way to gold. Redemption was not to be for the Thai boxer, who lost by a unanimous decision.
Russian Saltanat Medenova won the light heavyweight gold medal, defeating Turkish boxer Busra Isildar. The latter, one of Türkiye’s rising stars who is a IBA junior world champion and two-time European U23 champion, faced tough opposition in the form of Medenova. The Russian caused two referee stoppages in her previous bouts before beating Hasnae Larti of Morocco emphatically in the semi-finals. A close opening round was followed by a strong second from Medenova. Luckily for the Turkish boxer, she still had the opportunity to claw back favor with three judges. While Isildar performed well, the Russian held onto the victory and claimed her first gold medal.
In the last final of the evening, China’s Zhan Yilian defeated Kazakhstan’s Asian champion Yeldana Talipova to claim gold in the heavyeight category. Zhan, who stopped multiple World medallist from Türkiye Elif Guneri with ease in the semi-finals, had a similar cushion when beating Talipova. Despite the defeat, the Kazakh can be proud of her achievements. She became an Asian champion and Asian U22 champion in 2024, prior to taking the silver medal in Serbia.
Following the finals, awards were given to Morocco’s Oumayma Semlali for Best Referee, Andjela Brankovic of Serbia for Best Boxer and Russia was named Best Team in front of Kazakhstan and Türkiye. IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2025 is available and can be watched on the IBA YouTube channel. All results are available on the IBA website. Photos from each session can be found on the IBA Flickr channel.
