Armenian Boxers Pelted With Stones in Baku

BAKU — According to media reports, the fights of Armenian athletes in the rings at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev sport and concert complex, where Boxing World Championship is being held, have been accompanied with unprecedented pressure from the stands as local spectators whistle and verbally insult the visitors from Yerevan. In one case some nationalists began to throw stones in the direction of Armenian boxers and shout anti-Armenian slogans. The Armenian delegation later reportedly said no Armenian athlete got an injury as a result of such attacks.
According to Azerbaijani qafqazinfo.az when an Armenian boxer took the ring, a group of activists from “liberation of Karabakh” organization attacked the Armenian boxers throwing stones against them.
The Azeri threatened Armenians to leave Baku. The bouts were soon stopped and the Armenian boxer and team of jury left the gym.
The 13-member Armenian delegation and the Russian team that has two ethnic Armenian athletes have been accommodated separately from other teams in view of security concerns.
Armenian boxers have failed to register any major successes at the ongoing World Boxing Championships, most of the eight representatives of the team suffered defeats in their very first fights, while one boxer did not engage at all due to an injury.
So far, only David Hayrapetyan reached has 1/8 finals stage.
Participating in the Baku championships has been important for Armenian boxers because the winners of 1-8 places would also win the right to go to next summer’s Olympic Games in London