1^st March 2003 in Warsaw, the fourth international “Zloty Tur” took place. This was a special event, as this year the tournament received the title of Professionals’ World Cup. The strongest people came here from Russia, Poland, Finland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania and Kazakhstan.

The level of the event was so high, that it was hard to foresee the winner of the lightweight category (up to 63 kg) to the very end. Last year’s champion, Sergey Kuznetsov, lost to Ukrainian Andery Bieliński and Russian Alexey Ostapczuk at the very beginning. The final fight was between Russian champion Alexey Nikitchenko and Ukrainian Andriy Bielinski. The fight was very even and interesting. The Osettian fighter was lucky this time. Third place was taken by Aleksey Ostapczuk. The bronze medal in World Cup is this young sportsman’s biggest achievement.

In middleweight category, the expected main contender for gold was Cvetan Gashevski. There were a lot of worthy opponents. The best Ukrainian fighters came to Poland - Rustam Babajew and Grigorij Bondaruk, and World and European Champion – Russian Taimouraz Tsakhilov. Gashevski had his work cut out for him. He started his fights very strongly – he won with Ukrainian Eduard Serdjuk and Taimouraz Tsakhilov. In the third fight he met Rustam Babajew , who’s “hook” was very good. Rustam felt great that day and was very self-assured. He won gold this day. The best fight of the tournament was semi-final Gashevski – Tshakilov. Initially Gashevski wanted to beat Taimouraz by “hook”, but Tsakhilov’s “hook” was no worse than his. Then there were breaks and elbow raises. Words couldn’t express what was going on. Gashevski switched his style and opened up Tsakhilov’s palm. It is still a mistery how you can get out of “hook” that fast and attack “over the top”. It has become clear why the Bulgarian was called “THE PROFESSOR”. This victory cost Cvetan so much strength that he could not face up to Rustam Babajew in the finals.

Everyone was wondering if Jan Germanus will be able to take on Taras Iwakin (Ukraine) and reclaim his World Champion title in heavyweight? (up to 95 kg). Jan approached the subject very seriously and prepared himself thoroughly. Before the contest, he said: “My failure from last year made me quit from a few important tournaments. All my silver medals that I’ve won last year I gave to my friend, there’s no place for silver in my collection. Only gold counts!

Another legendary Osetian sportsman came to Warsaw too, Anatoli Skodtotaev, and also Russian Champion from 2002, Gennady Fardsinov.

Those two could go for gold, but they decided to settle their business in Poland. Their fight was a real treat in this tournament, however both lost strength, unfortunately. Anatoli Skodtotaev said later: „I knew very well that if I give up the fight to Gennady, I will be able to shine later on, but I never fought him before, I just had to see who’s strongest”.

In the finals, just like last year, Germanus and Iwakin met again. In the first fights Ivakin beat Germanus without hesitation. Germanus thought intensely during the fight, until he went for a break-up. The main goal was achieved – fight in straps. „Ready. Go!” and Iwakin’s arm is on the table! No one expected that. Then they met in the third, deciding round. But this time Iwakin saw through Germanus and gave him no Chance for a break-up. Another win for Iwakin. Third place went to a fighter no-one’s heard about so far, Romanian Ion Onescu. He showed he had real guts this time. But more on that later.

Aleksey Voevoda showed everyone in the very first fight that he won’t let anyone take away his title (superheavyweight over 95 kg). It was hard to say who’ll come second, as everyone was well prepared. Ruslan Kokoev lost to Andrej Sharkov from Ukraine, after a hard fight. Peter Gazdarica won over Slavik Kachmazov by fouls only. Gazdarica lacked only centimeters to beat Kokoev, but Ruslan won after all. He showed you can win even seemingly lost fights. End results: Voevoda undefeated, Sharkov 2^nd, Kokoev 3^rd.

The undisputed bets part of the program were the OPEN category fights. You should have seen those!

Taimouraz Tsakhilov and Aleksey Voevoda met in the first fight, and it was David against Goliath. Over 50 kg weight difference! “Nobody would break up with Voevoda” – boasted Taimouraz after the fight.

Jan Germanus and Ruslan Kokoev went all out. Germanus was very close to winning a couple of times, but Ruslan always managed to pull through. Only at the fourth time Kokoev managed to pin. “Beating Germanus with biceps – that’s serious” – commented Voevoda.

The fighters lost a lot of strength after heavy fights, as a result Kokoev came 8^th , and Germanus 12^th. The Romanian we mentioned before came on stage then. He beat Taimouraz Tsakhilov, Petr Gazdarica, Fin Petri Kualo, Russian Slavik Kachmazov, Gennady Fardsinov and won bronze in the most prestigious category! It’s true that all his opponents had some hard fights before him. Was he really that good then? The final was Taras Iwakin and Aleksey Voevoda. Looking at Taras’ huge bicep, there were doubts as to Voevoda’s chances. Many thought a miracle would happen, but it hasn’t. Vovoda won yet again.

Paweł Podlewski