After the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board approved the inclusion of women's boxing for the Games in London in the 2012 Olympics, this sport has gained fresh impetus.
Among the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District, Ingushetia has been the most successful in promoting women's boxing: Fatima Bokova of Ingushetia won the European kickboxing cup twice and became martial arts champion at the World Games in Beijing. She will head the Russian Olympic national boxing team in 2012.
The women's boxing NCFD Cup was held recently in Stavropol Territory, in the settlement of Suvorovskaya. Some 60 young sportswomen took part in the competition. The event was hosted by the 'Urartu' sport complex, construction of which was sponsored by the head of a local boxing club and the chairman of the local office of the Russian-Armenian Union, Razmic Aramyan, an ethnic Armenian who grew up in the multi-ethnic community of Suvorovskaya.
The winner of the junior section, Malika Shahidova, is also from Ingushetia. After this victory Malika became a candidate for master of sport title. Her success was highly rated by her coaches, as well as by her older colleagues, such as world women's boxing champion Lubov Lopatina. Malika herself says that boxing makes her feel confident and healthy and that she is inspired by Russian boxing celebrity Natalia Rogosina.
Pavel Tsoroev, Nazran. Exclusively for VK
