Azerbaijani boxers’ failure in Liverpool Zero finalists

The World Boxing Championships are underway in Liverpool — birthplace of The Beatles — marking the first tournament held under the banner of World Boxing. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s national team is already out of the race for gold, with not a single one of its 11 boxers reaching the finals.

The best result came from two semifinal appearances, earning bronze medals for Saidjamshid Jafarov (75 kg) and Alfonso Dominguez (90 kg). Yet both fell short of the final: Jafarov to his fellow Uzbek Fazliddin Erkinboev, and Dominguez to Brazil’s Santos Filho.

Notably, both medalists are naturalised fighters. Jafarov — a two-time Asian champion — was brought in from Uzbekistan by head coach Ravshan Khodjaev, while Dominguez, a Cuban-born fighter competing for Azerbaijan since 2018, is already a world champion and the country’s only two-time Olympic medalist (bronze in 2021, silver in 2024).

By contrast, homegrown Azerbaijani boxers endured a disastrous showing. Mahammadali Gasimzada (60 kg), Sarhan Aliyev (70 kg), Suret Garaev (85 kg), Mahammad Abdullayev (+90 kg), and lone female competitor Aynur Mikayilova (60 kg) all exited in their first fights. Four others managed only a single victory before bowing out.

This pattern raises deeper concerns. Azerbaijan has repeatedly cycled through foreign coaches — Cubans, Russians, now Uzbeks — yet results continue to decline. The last Azerbaijani-born world champion was Elvin Mamishzada in 2015, a full decade ago. Since then, native boxers have consistently underperformed at World and European Championships, as well as the Olympic Games.

This decline is especially striking given Azerbaijan’s proud boxing tradition, which produced figures like Aghasi Mammadov and Rovshan Huseynov. Today, the national team’s reputation survives largely thanks to naturalised athletes, not homegrown talent.

The question is unavoidable: why persist in appointing foreign coaches when Azerbaijan has capable experts such as Nariman Abdullayev, Vagif Kazymov, and Agasi Mammadov? Foreign trainers may be competent, but they are not inherently superior to Azerbaijani specialists. Perhaps it is time to stop “changing foreigners like gloves” and instead place trust in local coaches, who share not only the language but also the spirit of Azerbaijani boxing.

By Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az