Boxer from Georgia Lasha Guruli won medals at the World and European Championships several times, but was unable to reach gold. At the continental tournament in Serbia, the athlete came close to his cherished goal, but he himself gave up the fight after the second round.

Now the European vice-champion is looking for excuses for failure.

“What does the judges have to do with it?”

The Russian boxing team performed brilliantly at the European Boxing Championships in Belgrade, taking 11 gold, 8 silver and 1 bronze medals. One of the triumphs of the continental tournament was 23-year-old Tarkhan Idigov, who became the champion in the up to 67 kg category. Our boxer’s opponent in the final was the representative of Georgia Lasha Guruli, who was very upset because of the silver.

Guruli spent two rounds in the ring and refused to go out for the third. Of course, he could no longer become the winner of the final match under any circumstances. Nevertheless, the Georgian boxer behaved somewhat strangely: after the award ceremony, he immediately took off his silver medal and refused to be photographed together with other European Championship medalists. However, Lasha did not have any complaints against his opponent at that moment – he shook his opponent’s hand and even explained the decision not to be photographed.

— I took the refusal to be photographed normally. We did our job, he didn’t take a photo, that’s all. If he doesn’t want to, let him not take pictures. This is not something fundamental between us; even now he came up to me, congratulated me, and wished me good luck. He said that it’s not about me, but about the judges. What does the judge have to do with it if he himself withdraws from the fight in the second round, when I start beating him? The judges have nothing to do with it,” Match TV quoted Idigov as saying.

Lasha Guruli, Tarkhan Idigov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Aleksandar Dzhorovich

“They didn’t want me to go out”

It would seem that the situation was settled, the Georgian athlete expressed, albeit in a strange way, disagreement with the judge’s decision and could concentrate on preparing for other competitions, but probably wanted to extend his moment of glory. Guruli decided to speak out in the press, and moved from hints to open accusations.

“I decided to comment on this whole situation after the Olympics in Paris. I will only say one thing: on the eve of the fight we were offered a large sum of money. They didn’t want me in the ring. When they received the final answer, they said that they would achieve this victory at all costs,” Inside the Games quotes the Georgian as saying.

If we go by Guruli’s words, he was never tempted by the large sum, and he still appeared in the ring. But then for some reason he personally gave the victory to his opponent, refusing to continue the fight. For what reason did not fight until the last for gold, history is silent.

“Sanctions will be applied”

The Russian team has already denied the Georgian’s words, calling them a provocation and an attempt at hype. And the European Boxing Confederation threatened the athlete with sanctions.

– The EUBC will be investigating the Georgian boxer’s allegations regarding the attempt to give him money, as well as his general unsportsmanlike behavior during the awards ceremony. It is very strange that he makes such statements after the tournament, and not before the final match. I would like to note that during the World Championships in Tashkent he behaved in exactly the same way. This once again shows him not as an athlete, but as a blogger and showman. Most likely, by decision of the EUBC Ethics Commission, the most serious sanctions will be applied to him, including disqualification,” Secretary General of the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) Kirill Shchekutyev told Match TV.

Lasha Guruli, Tarkhan Idigov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov

To tell the truth, all these complaints from the Georgian athlete look much more like an attempt to justify failure, but for those who want to once again denigrate Russian sports, even such a dubious reason will be a joy. A boxer should prove his worth in the ring, and attempts to “wave his fists” after a lost fight look pathetic.

Watch live broadcasts of the competition on the Match! Fighter” and “Match! Country”, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.