Next Tuesday, Debrecen will host one of Europe’s most traditional boxing tournaments, the 69th Bocskai István Memorial Tournament, with 13 countries and 200 boxers confirmed to participate.
At the press conference on Tuesday, it was announced that nearly the entire Hungarian elite would be competing in the Oláh Gábor Street Sports Hall. Three national team boxers will not participate: Olympic 5th-place finisher Richárd Kovács, Levente Kiss, and Dominik Énekes.
In Debrecen, 10 male and 10 female weight categories will compete from Tuesday to Saturday. Local hero Attila Bernáth, last year’s European Championship silver medalist, will also step into the ring. The finals will take place on National Day, March 15th, starting at 6:00 PM. Daily events from Tuesday to Thursday will start at 2 PM, with 1 PM and 4 PM sessions on Friday.
“The Bocskai Tournament, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year, is in its golden age, and the federation is determined to keep it that way. Our plan is for this tournament to become a true brand, maintaining its traditionally strong position in the World Boxing competition system. We think in terms of quality, not medals – the Bocskai Tournament is the main competition of the year, an extremely important preparation before the World Championship in Liverpool in September,” said István Kovács, president of the Hungarian Boxing Federation (MÖSZ), also referring to the fact that on Saturday, MÖSZ became a full member of the newly recognized World Boxing organization by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
It is also possible that the new national boxing coach for Hungary will be revealed during the competition, with three out of more than ten candidates still in the race.
Ticket sales have already started, with tickets priced at 1500 HUF, and 1900 HUF for the finals day. The final matches will be broadcast live on M4 Sport, and other competition days can be followed on the federation’s YouTube channel.
At the end of the press conference, Lajos Barcsa, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, and István Kovács signed the Bocskai Memorial Tournament contract.
Main picture: illustration.
