An extraordinary mission is waiting for The 18-year-old boxer Laimonas Raibikas – he will be the first Lithuanian fighter to go to the ring in the “Dream Boxing & KOK World Series 2018” tournament in Kaunas.
Fighting the Polish fighter
on September 21st, professional boxers and bushido masters will test their strenght in the “Žalgiris” arena. Eleven fights are scheduled to be held. Martinas Kacprowiczius will be the opponent of the Kaunas sports school “Gaja” and the “Daugirdas Gym” representitive L.Raibikis.
20 year old M.Kacprowiczius is the winner of the bronze medal in the 2017 Polish Boxing Championship. Out of a total of 68 fights, he has won 50
Laimon will be fighting this opponent for the first time. “We will try to prepare for duel so that we don’t let our fans down”,- says Marius Narkevičius, The trainer of L.Raibikis
L.Raibikis – 2013 Lithuanian junior, and 2016 and 2017 youth Boxing Champion, winner and prize winner of international tournaments in our country and abroad (Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, Latvia)
In 2015 Laimonas participated in the World Junior Championship, and in 2016 he was recognized as the best boxer of the international Vilius Buikas tournament.
Enjoys technical boxing
– In the tournament, when the boxers and bushido fighters will be fighting the same ring, I will attend for the first time, – said L.Raibikis. – I think that the atmosphere in the “Žalgiris” arena will be similar to one that I really enjoyed during the World Junior Championship in St Petersburg: the persistent duel, a lot of excitement from spectators.
– Laimonai, why did you choose this combat sport in particular, and not any other?
– At the age of eleven I was primarily interested in Judo, but soon everything changed when my Brother Edwin brought me to the boxing room with coach M.Narkevičius. Team sports do not attract me because, if one person is failing, everyone is suffering, but there are always specific reasons. Boxing is entirely diffrent, you were not ready for battle, did not appreciate your opponent, did not deal with emotions or tension, lost- look for answers not somewhere around, but within yourself.
– Have you been in such situations?
– Yes and not once. I never lost responsibility, it will be like this in the future.
– What fighting style do you like? – I admire technical boxing – the kind of professional boxing Ukrainian fighter Vasily Lomačenka (double Olympic and World Champion and 2008 European Champion, since 2013 – Boxing Professional, World Champion by WBO and WBA Versions – Autumn) displays.
– Do you pay attention to the statistics on the competitions in which you participated?
– It is only approximate. Over the course of the year, there are about 10-15 duels, previously there were more. I have already met with about 100 rivals, I have nearly eighty victories.
– What fights were the most memorable for you?
– The Lithuanian Junior Boxing Championship finals, as well as the 2017 International Brothers’ Volodymyr and Vitaliy Klychko tournament in Ukraine, where I competed with Turkish fighter Tugrulhan Erdemir, who at that time was the World Junior Champion and later became European Champion. I lost to him, but we fought for all the rounds – I dropped points.
National team
L.Raibikis plans to debut in the Lithuanian adult boxing championship this year.
“The studies for Laimonas in LSU should be twice as useful – as a future sports specialist and as a boxer, along with other candidates for the national team, he will have the opportunity to train with Vidas Bružas, the senior trainer of the Lithuanian boxing team working at LSU, which is a promising prospect,” said M. Narkevičius. – Laimonas is a diligent, punctual guy and the future of his sports career is in his hands‘‘
