Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 6, 2022: Uzbekistan is the land of plenty for Akyikat Abaev, a member of the Kyrgyzstan national boxing team set-up, participating in the OCA Stage 2 Development Programme in Tashkent.
“I’m just envious when I see how far boxing has developed in Uzbekistan. I think it is the number one sport in the country and I wish one day Kyrgyzstan will be able to follow suit. At the moment we are poles apart. We might have around 25 boxers to choose from for national duty, they have hundreds to pick from,” smiles coach Abaev.
His candid assessment is borne by the results of each country in the ring. At the last Asian Games, 2018 Jakarta and Palembang, Uzbekistan dominated ringside winning five gold medals and two silvers in the men’s competition. Kyrgyzstan won only one bronze.
At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Bakhodir Jalolov won gold in the plum event in boxing, the men’s superheavyweight class. His face is plastered all over the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan headquarters. Abaev and Kyrgyzstan are still waiting for their own hero to rise.
“What this seminar offers is a chance to bridge the technical gap between countries and for this we have to be thankful for the Olympic Council of Asia for including boxing in the programme,” says a grateful Abaev.
“But at the end of the day, we have to nurture our young talent through. And that will depend on us coaches,” he added.
According to Abaev, there is a friendly rivalry between wrestling and boxing in Kyrgyzstan. Wrestling won a total of eight medals, four silver and four bronze, at the 2018 Asian Games, way more than boxing.
“Because of that and other results, wrestling gets more funding from the government than us. It is up to us, to turn this around,” noted Abaev.
“Coming here has been useful to refresh and revisit everything from rules to techniques. You always learn something new, and of course, I’m trying to learn and pick up pointers from Uzbekistan,” laughed Abaev.
