DOHA (Qatar): Reigning AIBA Youth World champion Javier Ibanez has been appointed as Ambassador of the upcoming AIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships in Kielce, Poland, from April 10-24.
Ibanez, who is one of the best men’s featherweight (57kg) elite boxers, and his successful career will be a wonderful example for the young athletes in Poland.
“I am honored to be chosen as an Ambassador for those World Championships. The emotion is great. I believe that after I won the title for youth, I will be able to win a world title for men’s elite as well, but this time it will be for Bulgaria. I am proud to be part of the Bulgarian national team – recently I defeated the world champion from Uzbekistan at Strandja 2021 Tournament and I hope that I will get a chance to participate in the Olympic Games to represent Bulgaria,” Ibanez said.
Ibanez claimed his first international title in 2011 at the age of 15, when he won the light flyweight (49kg) at the Roberto Balado Cup in Havana. He won the Russian international event, the Pavlyukov Youth Memorial Tournament, twice in 2013 and in 2014, moreover, the Khayrutdinov Youth Tournament in Kazakhstan.
The boxer was the main favorite at the bantamweight (56kg) in the busy youth year of 2014 when he accomplished all of his goals. Seven years ago he won the titles at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
The Cuban boxer defeated a Bulgarian, Dushko Blagovestov, during the finals of these top youth events both in Sofia and Nanjing.
Ibanez was involved in elite events in 2015 and won the Teofilo Stevenson Cup in Cuba and bagged silver at the Thailand International Invitational Tournament.
The athlete achieved his first elite Cuban national title in 2016 and joined the Cuba Domadores WSB team, where he won three contests. He earned a silver medal at the 2017 AMBC American Confederation Boxing Championships in Tegucigalpa and competed at the Hamburg AIBA World Boxing Championships four years ago.