DAY TWO of the IBA Womenโs World Boxing Championships 2025 saw another series of contentious stoppages take place in Niลก, Serbia.
It has become an almost rinse and repeat mission for the referees at this yearโs tournament, with four finishes, in particular, raising several eyebrows during yesterdayโs afternoon session.
Seemingly, once a fighter lands their first clean shot of the bout, the referee will swiftly interject and issue a standing count.
Knowing that they are trailing behind, the fighterโs opponent is then likely to abandon their game plan and instead go for the jugular, leaving themselves exposed to more counters, and indeed more knockdowns, as a result.
Of course, with amateur boxing being a points-driven sport, it is not unusual to see such premature stoppages.
But still, there is nonetheless a sense that, even for the amateurs, the referees have been particularly hasty with some of their calls.
There was, however, one stoppage that no one could have argued with, as Serbiaโs Kristina Kulukhova put on a punishing display, hurting her Zimbabwean opponent multiple times, to halt their truly one-sided light-welterweight bout in emphatic fashion.
Wins inside the distance for Mexicoโs Ingrid Galica, Turkyโs Nurselen Yalgettekin and Russiaโs Yulia Chumgalakova, too, saw all three minimumweights sail through to the round of 16.
Elsewhere in the sportโs lowest division, Chinaโs Xueyun Zhong and Valenzuelaโs Tayonis Cedeno both secured victories on points.
Up at bantamweight, meanwhile, Moldovaโs Iulia Coroli โ who was originally down 3-2 on the judgesโ scorecards โ edged a razor thin 4-3 decision after two extra officials were drafted in for a bout review.
Further wins for Romaniaโs Diana Maria Andor, Thailandโs Chongprongklang, Azerbaijanโs Zeynab Rahimova, Turkyโs Hatice Akbas, Russiaโs Karina Tazabekova, Vietnamโs Thi Kim Anh Vo, Puerto Ricoโs Angelyris Mendez and DR Koreaโs Jinhyang Paek then saw even more success at 54kg.
One of the evening sessionโs highlights then emerged when Mexican flyweight Esmeralda Juarez collided with Kazakhstanโs Anita Adisheva in a fiercely contested battle.
Despite suffering a standing count โ which, in truth, was an egregious call from the referee โ Juarez claimed a much deserved split decision victory, representing just one of several Mexican fighters who have already shone brightly.
The next standout performance arrived when Chinaโs promising flyweight, Sitong Wei, danced rings around her more static opponent, establishing herself as a dark horse at this yearโs tournament.
Another noteworthy bout โ this time, for all the wrong reasons โ saw Russian flyweight Anna Aedma bulldoze her way, leading mostly with her head, towards a stoppage victory after opening a cut on the bridge of her opponentโs nose.
As for the Irish team, it has been far from a successful start to the tournament, with seasoned featherweight Michaela Walsh, for instance, losing 5-0 to Serbiaโs Andjela Brankovic.
With Irelandโs Daina Moorehouse competing in the light-flyweight division later today, though, perhaps the best is still yet to come.
