Fuchs and Graham Advance to Medal Rounds of 2021 Strandja Tournament
by Brian Taylor, USA Boxing
The quarterfinals of the 73rd edition of the Strandja Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, saw mixed results for Team USA, with only two boxers advancing to the medal rounds.
2020 Strandja Tournament Champion Virginia Fuchs (Houston,Texas) put on another clinic in her quarterfinal bout against 2018 light flyweight World Championship silver medalists Hanna Okhota of Ukraine. Fuchs, who is looking for her third overall Strandja title, unanimous decision victory puts her back in the ring tomorrow with Bulgaria’s Stoyka Krasteva.
Fuchs’ teammate, Naomi Graham (Fayetteville, N.C.), kept her hopes of winning her third straight Strandja title alive with another strong performance today. Graham took all five judges’ cards over Kachari Bhagyabati of India to move to a semifinal matchup against 2019 European Champion Aoife Orourke of Ireland.
Both Fuchs and Graham are guaranteed to at least provide Team USA with a bronze medal no matter the results in tomorrow’s bouts, which begin at 11:00 a.m. EST and can be followed along by clicking here.
Featherweight Andrea Medina (San Diego, Calif.) and lightweight Rashida Ellis (Lynn, Mass.) began the day with hard fought bouts against their opponents, however, fell short of advancing in the tournament, while Anthony Herrera (East Los Angeles, Calif.) held his ground against the reining Olympic and World Champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan, but saw his tournament run come to an end as well.
Day 4 Results
51 kg: Virginia Fuchs, Houston, Texas/USA, dec. Hanna Okhota/UKR, 5-0
52 kg: Anthony Herrera, East Los Angeles, Calif./USA, vs. Shakhobidin Zoirov/UZB
57 kg: Svetlana Kamenova/BUL dec. over Andrea Medina, San Diego, Calif./USA, 5-0
60 kg: Nune Asatrian/RUS dec. over Rashida Ellis, Lynn, Mass./USA, 5-0
75 kg: Naomi Graham, Fayetteville, N.C./USA, dec. Kachari Bhagyabati/IND, 5-0
Semifinal Bouts
51 kg: Virginia Fuchs, Houston, Texas/USA, vs. Stoyka Krasteva/BUL
75 kg: Naomi Graham, Fayetteville, N.C./USA, vs. Aoife Orourke/IRL