Hungary’s Mark Kontrecz has been named the International Boxing Association's Boxer of the Month for July ©AIBA

Mark Kontrecz has been named the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Boxer of the Month for July, becoming the first Hungarian to win the accolade.

It comes after the 17-year-old won a gold medal at the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament in Serbia, where he also claimed the best technician trophy.

"I am extremely happy to become the first Hungarian boxer to win this award," he said.

"It is good to know that many people are following my career, and I think this is the result of my hard work in training and in the ring."

Following the creation of a three-boxer shortlist by an AIBA panel, a vote was put to the governing body’s social media followers to decide the winner.

Kontrecz was the overwhelming fans favourite in the vote and beat competition from the United States’ Marlen Esparza and Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov.

Esparza claimed the silver medal in the women’s flyweight division at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, while Zhakypov outpointed Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo in AIBA Pro Boxing (APB). Cycle I Round 2 to earn him an APB title match against light flyweight champion Bin LV of China, as well as a qualification quota for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov missed out on the Boxer of the Month title despite securing a qualification quota for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov missed out on the Boxer of the Month title despite securing a qualification quota for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games ©EUBC

"I would like to congratulate Mark Kontrecz for being named the AIBA Boxer of the Month," said AIBA President C K Wu.

"It is great news that such young talent receives recognition among boxing fans.

"Mark is a future boxing star and I am looking forward to seeing him in the ring in the future."

Kontrecz began boxing six years ago in Kiskunfélegyháza and first joined Hungary’s national squad in 2013.

In September of that year, he competed at the AIBA Junior World Championships in Kyiv, defeating Asian Boxing Confederation junior continental champion Vladislav Stolbovskiy of Kazakhstan, before losing to Brazil's Cassio Santos Oliveira.

Two months later, Kontrecz achieved a bronze medal at the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) Junior Continental Championships in Anapa, Russia.

In 2014, he took part in the Heydar Aliyev Junior Cup in Baku and advanced to the quarter-finals of the EUBC Junior Continental Championships.

As a junior athlete, Kontrecz twice won the Hungarian Junior National Championships and the Hungarian Junior National Olympiad.


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