Kapuler Advances in European Games

Miroslav Kapuler Ishchenko advanced to the round of 32 in the junior middleweight division at the European Games in Krakow, Poland. The European Games are a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In many cases, reaching the semifinals is good enough to qualify.

Kapuler, a 26 year old who is 3-0 as a pro, won by unanimous decision against Milos Bartl of the Czech Republic. Bartl, a native of Prague, is two years older and 2-0 as a pro. Both are southpaw boxers who use in-an-out styles, but Kapuler was more effective.

Miroslav was clever and elusive the entire bout. His timing was better partly because Bartl bounced, a bad habit because the Czech fighter had to set his feet to throw a punch. Kapuler used good upper-body movement and punched off angles. Bartl was more one-dimensional, coming straight in-and-out. Kapuler's timing forced Bartle to be the aggressor, and Kapuler took advantage with sneaky counters.

Three judges called it a shutout, 30-27, while two others scored it 29-27, all for Kapuler. He faces Vakhid Abbasov of Serbia on Sunday. A fellow southpaw, Abbasov is 6-0 as a pro and won gold at last year's European Amateur Championships in the welterweight division.


Note: Fellow Israeli Ahmad Shwiti (8-0 as a pro), who isn't Jewish, lost to Narek Hovhannisyan of Armenia 3-2. Junior welterweight Shtiwi boxed well, but Hovhannisyan's volume carried the day.