What we saw just moments ago in the Riyadh ring was a prodigious, sensational Muhamet Qamili, far beyond any expectations before the fight. Our boxer wiped out the unbeaten Frenchman Yoni Valverde Jr in less than one round, scoring a swift technical knockout and earning his spot in the Boxing Grand Prix featherweight final.
At first glance, there seemed to be many similarities between the two boxers. Both Qamili and Valverde were undefeated, both had overcome early deficits in their quarterfinal bouts against taller opponents, and both had shown impressive tactical versatility throughout the tournament, handling themselves well both as aggressors and as counterpunchers.
During the live DAZN broadcast, the event’s commentators highlighted these similarities, even joking that the fighters’ shorts and hairstyles looked almost identical. Yet less than three minutes after the opening bell, the differences between Qamili and Valverde became far more evident to viewers than their apparent likenesses.
Our Eti started the match with composure and determination, landing several high-quality shots, including a beautiful uppercut to the head. Valverde, however, was not content to stand back — the Frenchman accepted the close-range exchange and tried to put maximum power into his punches to halt his opponent’s momentum early on.
For about two minutes, the fight was evenly matched, with both men having their moments. But Valverde’s insistence on standing in front of Qamili and giving him a stationary target allowed the Italo-Albanian boxer to find his range and unleash his devastating left hook.
The punch crashed onto the Frenchman’s jaw once, making him wobble for a fraction of a second. Then, as Valverde stubbornly remained in front of him without raising his guard, Qamili repeated the execution and this time Valverde went down, visibly dazed.
The French athlete managed to get back to his feet and was deemed fit to continue, but as soon as Qamili pounced on him again, landing a prolonged combination to the head, the referee stepped in between them and stopped the fight, declaring the technical knockout.
The Italian corner erupted in celebration, with the winner immediately embraced by his longtime trainer, Alessandro Elmoety, who deserves great credit as one of the architects of this remarkable sporting rise. A climb whose peak still lies somewhere beyond the visible horizon.
During the post-fight interview, conducted in Spanish, Qamili proudly recalled his Albanian roots. From Albania, his homeland, to Italy, his adopted country, and now to Mexico, where he is refining his boxing skills — his journey toward global success continues. An ever-evolving trajectory that has now carried “The Machine”, a nickname that fits him perfectly, into the grand final of this captivating and demanding tournament.
Awaiting him in that epic final chapter will be the 21-year-old heavy-handed Brandon Mejia Mosqueda, who also secured a semifinal victory by knockout. The Mexican fighter stopped South Africa’s Bekizizwe Maitse in the fifth round with a brutal liver shot.
Italian fans can finally dream and get excited about a young, talented prospect with all the right qualities to build a bright future.
A loyal reader of Boxe Punch, while following Qamili’s run in the tournament, once told the author of this article that the young man reminds him of a young Loris Stecca. A bold comparison, of course, but not one I entirely dismiss, as I, too, can see some similarities. Let’s just hope, as we knock on wood, that in a few years they might share another thing in common: the achievement of a historic milestone.