Now more than ever is the time when Vladimir Belujsky needs to keep his feet firmly on the ground. The talented Mitchelstown boxer, who is originally from Slovakia, turned professional last week with a UK based promoter, something most amateurs who ply their boxing craft daily in the rings nationwide, can only dream of.
Boxing since the age of 11, Vladimir has made impressive progress through the ranks and earlier this year fought in his home country on the undercard of a professional European title fight against the Slovakian elite middleweight champion, defeating him, to be ranked as the number one elite fighter in Slovakia. However, it was a bittersweet moment, as he only narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio.
This week he told The Avondhu, “My biggest disappointment came when I tried to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio with my home country of Slovakia and even though I did enough to qualify, they still decided not to send me because it was “too late” to enter me into the tournament”.
Coverage in this week’s Print & Digital Edition
