The golden generation of boxing

The article of November 7, 2020 is reprinted in memory of boxing legend Nazif Gashi, who died today at the age of 74.

There are doubts about any dates, but he remembers the names very well. He also remembers the importance that the Pristina boxing club had for sports in the then federal state.

Mehmet Bogujevci speaks with pride about the successes achieved by the Radnički club, which at the end of the seventies changed its name to Pristina. Bogujevci, for a long time the general secretary of the Kosovo Boxing Federation, keeps in the small office of the federation some photographs of the most successful generations of the Prishtina club. He is in all the pictures. He says that Prishtina won only one title without him in the team. From the small office, Bogujevci continues to lead the country's boxing. He admits that now it is much more difficult and that repeating the successes of the seventies and eighties of the last century is impossible. I mention many reasons for this.

For Bogujevci, as for all boxers of his generation and the generation after him, the topic of Pristina's successes is a favorite. In each conversation, give some details from an event. He often talks about the collaboration with the late coach, Lah Nimani, about the memorable encounters with the best Yugoslav boxers of the time.

He estimates that the growth of the Prishtina club has influenced the raising of the boxing level throughout Yugoslavia. It tells about the time when interest in amateur boxing was extremely high. When everyone in Kosovo was excited about the successes of the boxing club.

Bogujevci joined Radnički in December 1969, after several years of success at Spartak Subotica, where he was studying. During his time in Subotica, he had a lot of free time and decided to try boxing. He did not believe that in time he would become the best boxer in the category and one of the greatest athletes in the history of Kosovo. He won his first individual titles at Spartak. But after finishing high school, he returned to Kosovo and joined the Radnički club.

The club of the second category

Radnički was a second-tier club, but its growth slowly began. It was a significantly smaller and less organized club than Spartak. But that didn't last long.

The big change in the Prishtina club happened with the arrival of coach Lah Nimani from Mitrovica.

"I started boxing for Pristina in March 1970. Pristina was in the Second League, a not very well organized, tired club. With the entry into the First League, meanwhile, the situation has changed. Zhivorad Shishkovic has arrived as a coach, an excellent ex-boxer of the Prishtina boxing club, a teacher, a good coach. We have started to make good results. The Prishtina club became strong when it was reinforced with the boxers of Trepca, Faruk Gërxhaliu, Xhevdet Peci and Enver Hajredini and coach Lah Nimani. With those three boxers, Prishtina very quickly began to reap successive successes", says Bogujevci.

A few years after his arrival, Radnički moved to the first federal league. Changes continued to happen and the situation in the club improved. It was not long before the long-awaited success came.

Radnički won the first title in the 1975/76 edition. Besides Bogujevci, who was quickly promoted to captain of the team, the first title was also brought by Bajram Hashani, Xhevdet Peci, Nazif Gashi and many others. Bogujevci is careful with names. I don't mention much. He says that he will be sorry if he forgets someone. He doesn't deal much with dates either. The others are not taken either, but what they all have in common is that they talk about the five titles that turned Pristina into an "immortal" team.

In fact Radnički, namely Prishtina, won several titles in a row, while after a break, he won the fifth title in 1984. Bogujevci was already retired, the same as many other successful boxers of the first generation.

After winning the first titles, Prishtina was consistently one of the leading clubs in the First League of Yugoslavia, while several times it was runner-up.

Bogujevci and others claim that they deserved more titles and that there were great injustices.

The former world runner-up said that Prishtina was a professional amateur boxing club back then. He told about the great support the club had.

"After the constitutional changes of 74-su, the leadership of the club also changed. There were more Albanians. The team was reinforced with boxers from Kosovo. The locals were a little different, there were so many people that the small sports stadium was not occupied, it was completely full", says Bogujevci.

"Competition has automatically increased. All the clubs of the former Yugoslavia were preparing to beat us. It was a problem to beat us. Here and there we lost a match, but mostly we scored victories", he added.

Bogujevci says that it was a privilege to watch Pristina matches closely. It says that the greatest honor that could be given was to invite someone. He has shown that there have been cases where the matches were also held in the stadium of Pristina due to the great interest.

The champion of Yugoslavia in the team competition was determined on the basis of the successes achieved in the championship that took place every week, with regular rounds. Ten duels took place and the best team won the match.

One of the boxers carrying the Prishtina club was Nazif Gashi. He still follows boxing, but is not directly involved in the sport. Gashi was an important part of the team in the late seventies, when it was the most successful period.

Nazif Gashi tells about the changes made that brought the success of the famous Pristina, which is remembered as one of the most successful teams in Kosovo during the time of the federal state.

"When I came to the Pristina club, when I entered the first team, in 71, the club only entered the First League of Yugoslavia. In that last time of the table we became champions. It was a good success, good work was done in the club of Pristina, a positive change. We have won five titles in a row", says Gashi. In boxing circles, there is often talk about Gashi's duels with opponents from other countries of Yugoslavia. Mention is made of his boxing style and the great victories he has achieved.

Gashi recognizes the contribution of the deceased, Lah Nimani, to the extraordinary growth of Pristina. It tells about the coach's very good relations with the boxers, which, according to him, was the key to success.

"We started the work, the good work began, the will of us boxers began. The closeness of the coach with the team began. We started with different work, with more will and energy for success".

Hopes for the future

The road that Lah Nimani made, from Mitrovica to Pristina, was also made by Sefedin Braha a few years later. He moved to Pristina in 1978 and until 1989 was Niman's assistant in the biggest boxing club in Kosovo.

Braha recently returned from Germany to Kosovo and opened a boxing club in Mitrovica. The club is called Trepça, like all the big clubs of the mining town.

Braha is convinced that high-level boxers will appear again, who will win medals in world and European championships.

Such were the boxers of the Prishtina club. Aziz Salihu has Olympic bronze medals, Mehmet Bogujevci world silver medals, while others have also won big medals at that time.

In fact, when Pristina was dominant in Yugoslavia, boxing in the federal state was at its highest level. Medals in all international competitions prove this.

"It is a period that cannot be repeated, regardless of the talents and conditions that can be provided now. The very fact of the former Yugoslavia's five titles proves this. We have had success in all championships, including the European, World and Olympic Games. We received medals", recalls Braha.

He works diligently with the few boxers he has in training. He provided the equipment himself. He says that he has encountered good support and that there is no shortage of talent and will. But he admits that it takes a lot of work to reach the top.

For the golden generation of Pristina, work has not been a problem. The team mainly stayed in preparatory camps. Mostly in Saraj Skopje, says Bogujevci. Time recordings testify to the very good atmosphere in training. The work of the late Lah Nimani is also appreciated by all. It is considered key, but only by people who in that world were in an important position.

Boxing in Kosovo, as in most countries of the region, is at a significantly lower level. International successes are absent, while viewers are few. Interest in amateur boxing has declined a lot. Even the number of young people who decide on a career in ring sports is not large.

"There are talents, I don't believe there will be a lack of results. I cannot prejudge, but the talents, the aspirations, the will exist. I hope we will start on such a path, where we were with the previous generation", says Braha.

Prishtina is now not even the strongest club in Kosovo. But his past looms large. Everyone boasts of the successes of Pristina, not only former boxers.