PHOTO/ The Albanian boxing legend has passed away

Nazif Gashi, one of the greatest names in the history of sports in Kosovo, has passed away.

The 74-year-old had a distinguished career as a boxer and was part of the golden generation of Prishtina, a team that dominated for many years in the former federal state.

His family members have confirmed his passing.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Gashi and the other Prishtina boxers made all of Kosovo proud with their performances.

The golden generation of boxing

There may be uncertainties about dates, but the names are remembered very well. So is the importance that the Prishtina boxing club had for the sport across the former federation.

Mehmet Bogujevci speaks with pride about the achievements of the Radnički club, which later changed its name to Prishtina in the late 1970s. Bogujevci, who for many years served as the secretary-general of the Boxing Federation of Kosovo, keeps in his small office several photos of the club's most successful generations and he appears in all of them. He says Prishtina won only one title without him in the squad. From that small office, Bogujevci continues to lead the country’s boxing scene. He admits that today things are much harder and that repeating the successes of the 1970s and 1980s is nearly impossible. He points to many reasons.

For Bogujevci, as for the boxers of his generation and those that followed, the topic of Prishtina’s achievements is always dear. In every conversation, he adds details from memorable events. He often speaks about working with the late coach Lah Nimani and about memorable matches against the era’s best Yugoslav boxers.

He believes that the rise of the Prishtina club helped elevate the level of boxing throughout Yugoslavia. He recalls a time when interest in amateur boxing was extraordinarily high, when everyone in Kosovo was emotionally tied to the club’s success.

Bogujevci joined Radnički in December 1969 after achieving notable success for several years with Spartak Subotica, where he had gone for his studies. While in Subotica, he had plenty of free time and decided to try boxing never imagining that he would eventually become the best boxer in his category and one of the greatest athletes in Kosovo’s history. His first titles were won with Spartak. But after finishing high school, he returned to Kosovo and joined Radnički.

The Second Division Club

Radnički was a second-division club, but its growth began gradually. It was clearly a smaller and less organized club compared to Spartak. But this did not last long.

The major turning point for the Prishtina club came with the arrival of coach Lah Nimani from Mitrovica.

“I started boxing for Prishtina in March 1970. Prishtina was in the Second League, not a very well-organized club, rather worn out. With the entry into the First League, things changed. Zhivorad Shishković arrived as coach, a former excellent boxer of the Prishtina club, a pedagogue and a good trainer. We began to achieve good results. Prishtina became strong when it was reinforced with Trepça boxers Faruk Gërxhaliu, Xhevdet Peci, and Enver Hajredini, as well as coach Lah Nimani. With those three boxers, Prishtina quickly started achieving consecutive successes,” says Bogujevci.

A few years after his arrival, Radnički was promoted to the federal first league. Changes continued to happen, and the club’s situation improved. It wasn’t long before the long-awaited success arrived.

Radnički won its first title in the 1975/76 season. Alongside Bogujevci, who was soon promoted to team captain, the first title was brought home by Bajram Hashani, Xhevdet Peci, Nazif Gashi, and many others. Bogujevci is careful with the names he doesn’t mention many.

He says people would feel offended if he forgot someone. He also doesn’t focus too much on dates. Others don’t either, but what they all share is the story of the five titles that made Prishtina an “immortal” team.

In fact, Radnički later Prishtina won several consecutive titles, and after a break, secured the fifth title in 1984. Bogujevci was already retired by then, as were many other boxers of the first successful generation.

After winning its first titles, Prishtina was consistently one of the top clubs in the Yugoslav First League and several times finished as runner-up.

Bogujevci and others insist they deserved more titles and that there were major injustices.

The former world vice-champion says Prishtina at the time was a professional club in amateur boxing. He speaks of the tremendous support the club enjoyed.

“After the constitutional changes of ’74, the club’s leadership also changed. There were more Albanians. The team was strengthened with boxers from Kosovo. Local athletes were different the sports hall couldn’t hold all the spectators; it was packed,” Bogujevci says.

“Competition increased automatically. All clubs from former Yugoslavia prepared specifically to beat us. It was difficult to defeat us. Here and there we lost a match, but mostly we won,” he adds.

Bogujevci says it was a privilege to watch Prishtina’s matches live. He says the greatest honor someone could receive was being invited to attend. There were even cases when matches were held in Prishtina’s stadium due to the massive interest.

The Yugoslav team champion was determined based on results achieved in the weekly championship rounds. Ten bouts were held, and the better team won the encounter.

One of the leading boxers of the Prishtina club was Nazif Gashi. He still follows the sport but is no longer directly involved. Gashi was an important part of the team in the late 1970s, when Prishtina enjoyed its most successful period.

Nazif Gashi recalls the changes that were made and which brought success to the famous Prishtina team, remembered as one of the most successful teams in Kosovo during the time of the federal state.

“When I came to the Prishtina club, when I entered the first team in 1971, the club had just joined the First League of Yugoslavia. At that time, from the bottom of the table we became champions. It was a great success; the work being done at the Prishtina club was good, a positive change. We won five consecutive titles,” Gashi says.

In boxing circles, there is often talk about Gashi’s bouts with opponents from other parts of Yugoslavia. His boxing style and the major victories he achieved are frequently mentioned.

Gashi recognizes the contribution of the late Lah Nimani to Prishtina’s extraordinary rise. He speaks about the excellent relationship the coach had with the boxers, which, according to him, was the key to success.

“We started working, things started going well, and we boxers began to feel motivated. The closeness between the coach and the team grew. We started working differently, with more will and energy for success.”

Hopes for the Future

The path that Lah Nimani took from Mitrovica to Prishtina was, a few years later, also followed by Sefedin Braha. In 1978, he joined Prishtina and remained Nimani’s assistant in the largest boxing club in Kosovo until 1989.

Braha has recently returned from Germany to Kosovo and has opened a boxing club in Mitrovica. The club is called Trepça, like all the major clubs in the miners’ city.

Braha is confident that high-level boxers will emerge again, capable of winning medals in world and European championships.

This was the standard of boxers from the Prishtina club. Aziz Salihu earned an Olympic bronze medal, Mehmet Bogujevci a world silver medal, and others also won major medals at the time.

In fact, when Prishtina was dominant in Yugoslavia, boxing in the federative state was at its highest level. Medals in all international competitions testify to this.

“It was a period that cannot be repeated, regardless of the talents and conditions available now. The fact that we won five Yugoslav titles proves it. In all championships, including European, world, and Olympic Games, we had successes. We won medals,” Braha recalls.

He works diligently with the few boxers he currently trains. He has provided the equipment himself. He says he has received good support and that neither talent nor willpower is lacking. But he admits that a lot of work is needed to reach the top.

For the golden generation of Prishtina, work was never a problem. The team mostly stayed in training camps, mostly in Saraj, Skopje, according to Bogujevci. Recordings from that time show the excellent atmosphere during training. The work of the late Lah Nimani is also highly appreciated by everyone. It is considered crucial, both for his skills and for the guidance of those who were in important positions back then.

Boxing in Kosovo, like in most countries in the region, is at a significantly lower level today. International successes are rare, and spectators are few. Interest in amateur boxing has dropped considerably. Even the number of young people choosing a career in the sport of the ring is small.

“There are talents, and I don’t believe results will be lacking. I cannot predict, but the talents, aspirations, and willpower exist. I hope we will embark on a path similar to the one we had with the previous generation,” Braha says.

Today, Prishtina is not even the strongest club in Kosovo. But its past remains great. Everyone, not just former boxers, takes pride in the successes of Prishtina.

“KORÇA BOOM”