Athlete of the Week on RRI – Boxer Bogdan Juratoni

Todays edition features boxer Bogdan Juratoni, who has recently won silver in the European Boxing Championships in Belarus.

Florin Orban, 11.06.2013, 12:44

Last week the city of Minsk in Belarus played host to the European Amateur Boxing Championships. Romania’s delegation comprised six boxers, of which only one managed to get his name onto a medal. Bogdan Juratoni won silver in the 75 kilogram category, after pulling a series of outstanding results. For his remarkable achievement, we have designated Bogdan Juratoni Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International.

Juratoni was seeded second in the competition, and boxed his first fight against Aston Brown of Scotland in the eighth-finals. After outpointing Brown, the Romanian boxer eased past host country favourite Vitaly Bondarenko in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals Bogdan faced Zoltan Harcsa of Hungary. The Hungarian however sustained a hand injury during the fight and was forced to withdraw 48 seconds into the second bout.

In the finals Bogdan Juratoni went up against Jason Quigley of Ireland. According to Agerpres news agency, the Irish boxer won the first bout, with several powerful punches hitting his target. Juratoni came back strong in the second bout, and it was now Quigley’s turn to block. Agerpres reports that Bogdan put on a strong fight in the last bout as well, when Quigley’s strength levels were wearing down, noting that despite that fact that Juratoni was obviously the better fighter when the bell signaled the end of the fight, the referees undeservedly ruled Quigley winner on points. The Romanian boxer thus scooped silver.

Bogdan Juratoni will be 23 on June 17. His record sheet also includes bronze at the 2011 World Boxing Championships of Baku. In 2012 he was Romania’s only representative in the boxing competition at the 2012 London Olympics, where he failed to get past the first qualifying round.