One more era in the confrontation between Uzbek-Kazakh boxing has come to an end.

El Clasico and the Milan Derby are very popular in football and fans look forward to these confrontations. Because they elevate football to the level of art. Yes, this is not an exaggeration. It is true that recently the interest in the Milan Derby has decreased a bit, but in the glory years of Milan and Inter, fans around the world were divided into two camps.And the confrontation between Barcelona and Real Madrid does not need any unnecessary comments....
In fact, today I do not want to talk about footbal, but I want to pay attention to a similar confrontation in amateur boxing.  I'm talking about “El Clasico” in amateur boxing or “Central Asian derby”.... Of course, we are talking about the competition of boxers from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, boxers from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan always took prize-winning places at the Olympics, world championships and continental championships. In the beginning, Kazakhstan's boxing masters demonstrated quite good results at the Olympics. However, over the past 10 years, the Uzbekistan national team has shown its incomparably strong position and superiority not only in the region, but also in the world.  It is gratifying that boxers from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were able to beat such favorites as Cuba, Russia and Ukraine.

Of course, the reason why both countries have become boxing great powers is because of the healthy competition between them. Over the years, we have witnessed many fights between Uzbek and Kazakh boxers in international competitions. One of the most striking encounters is the bout between Bakhodir Jalolov and Kamshybek Kuncabaev, which has become a part of this history! Before that we also saw hard fights between Narimon Otaev and Nurzhan Smanov, Rustam Saidov and Mukhtarhon Dildabekov, Elishod Rasulov and Adilbek Niyazimbetov. However, the era of fights between Zhalolov and Kuncabaev lasted long, and the final statistics was 7:3 in favor of Zhalolov. It is worth noting that Lazizbek Mullazhonov also won one of the meetings. Nevertheless, we do not emphasize the results, but simply can not leave without attention the end of Kamshybek Kuncabaev's career, because he was a worthy opponent for Bakhodir.

If we pay attention to the results of the Kazakhstani boxer, Kamshybek Kuncabaev achieved significant success in his career. He won a bronze medal at the Olympics, twice won silver at the World Championships, four times won silver at the Asian Championships, once won silver at the Asian Games, and he also has a silver at the World Army Games .

These are impressive results, despite the lack of gold medals. Yes, he won prizes that every boxer dreams of. In most finals his opponent was Bakhodir Zhalolov, from whom he was defeated. Nevertheless, as already mentioned, Kamshybek showed worthy fights. I also want to note his human qualities - he visited our country several times, and we had an opportunity to communicate with him. Besides, Bakhodir Jalolov and Tulkin Kilichev also highly appreciated his character. In general, we recognize only positive qualities in him.
In short, Bakhodir Zhalolov finished his amateur career, and Kamshybek Kunkabaev officially announced the end of his career in boxing. Thus, another era in the confrontation of Uzbek-Kazakh boxing has come to an end.

We wish good luck to the Kazakh boxer in his future career. Kamshybek, thank you for the wonderful boxing and competition!          

Prepared by Akhmadbek Eshmatov