▪️The former states of the collapsed Soviet Union will face off in the finals on Saturday, December 13, 2025
▪️For the first time Cuban boxers failed to qualify for the finals. Their sole semi-finalist light-heavyweight Arlen Lopez lost to Uzbekistan’s Javohir Ummataliev
Russia dominated the semi-finals of the IBA World Boxing Championships, landing a record 12 boxers in the finals at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
Russia became the absolute record holder for the number of finalists — 12 boxers in 13 weight categories.
Out of 13 Russian boxers, only one failed to reach the final — Andrey Peglivanyan (57 kg), who lost to Tajikistan’s Khusravkhon Rahimov in the semifinal.
Six boxers from Uzbekistan and four from Kazakhstan also reached the finals. Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan each produced one finalist.
Team Armenia, which had five semifinalists, failed to bring any boxer to the final and finished the tournament with five bronze medals.
The finals will feature six Russia vs Uzbekistan matchups and three Russia vs Kazakhstan showdowns.
Theoretically, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan could prevent Russia from taking first place in gold medals, but the Russian boxers demonstrated excellent form and high-level preparation throughout the tournament.
For the first time in the history of the World Championships, Cuba- represented by only four boxers – failed to make it to the finals. The lone semi-finalist, light-heavyweight Arlen Lopez lost to Uzbekistan’s Javohir Ummataliev.
Cuba’s superstar Julio Cesar La Cruz was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev who won 4-1.
With most of the West European countries shifting to World Boxing, Spain was however in Dubai. They had two boxers in the semi-finals but they did not make it to the finals.
Africa once again failed to qualify for the finals with three boxers in the semi-finals all of whom lost their fights. Zambia had two boxers and Mali one. It’s kudos to Africa for returning to the medals bracket after a dry spell of eight years.
The finals will be a battle between Russia vs Central Asia.
All of them are among the 15 states which emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The 15 new independent states were Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. These republics, which were previously constituent republics of the USSR, became sovereign nations after the dissolution of the communist government.
Eastern Europe:Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova
Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia
Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan
Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan
Some of the 15 new states such as Uzbekistan, Armenia and Lithuania made their debut in the World Championships in 1993 with Armenia finishing fourth with one gold and one bronze.
Since 1993, the former Soviet Union states have grown in stature with Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan winning the World Championships severally.
Number of finalists by country
Russia — 12
Uzbekistan — 6
Kazakhstan — 4
Azerbaijan — 1
Tajikistan — 1
Kyrgyzstan — 1
Belarus — 1
Number of semifinalists by country:
Russia — 13
Uzbekistan — 9
Kazakhstan — 6
Armenia — 5
Azerbaijan — 3
Georgia — 2
Zambia — 2
Tajikistan — 2
Kyrgyzstan — 2
Spain — 2
Nepal — 1
Moldova — 1
Turkmenistan — 1
Mali — 1
Cuba — 1
Belarus — 1
Final matchups of the 2025 Boxing World Championships
48 kg: Edmond Khudoyan (Russia) vs Subkhan Mamedov (Azerbaijan)
51 kg: Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan) vs Bair Batlaev (Russia)
54 kg: Vyacheslav Rogozin (Russia) vs Saken Bibossynov (Kazakhstan)
57 kg: Orazbek Asykulov (Kazakhstan) vs Khusravkhon Rahimov (Tajikistan)
60 kg: Abdumalik Khalokov (Uzbekistan) vs Vsevolod Shumkov (Russia)
63.5 kg: Ilya Popov (Russia) vs Omar Livaza (Kyrgyzstan)
67 kg: Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev (Uzbekistan) vs Evgeniy Kool (Russia)
71 kg: Sergey Koldenkov (Russia) vs Ablaykhan Zhussupov (Kazakhstan)
75 kg: Sabyrzhan Akkalyk (Kazakhstan) vs Ismail Mutsolgov (Russia)
80 kg: Djambulat Bijamov (Russia) vs Javokhir Ummataliyev (Uzbekistan)
86 kg: Sharabutdin Ataev (Russia) vs Alexei Alferov (Belarus)
92 kg: Turabek Khabibullaev (Uzbekistan) vs Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)
+92 kg: Arman Makhanov (Uzbekistan) vs David Surov (Russia)
Additional reporting by Sportaran
