Cuba Domadores ready for two highly expected boxing clashes against Ukraine Otamans and China Dragons in Havana
WSB Season IV Champions, Cuba Domadores had an amazing start in Season VI, with stunning 5-0 victories over Türkiye Conquerors and China Dragons. Only the Ukraine Otamans were able to overcome the Cubans, in Kiev. On Thursday evening, Cuba Domadores take on Ulraine Otamans in a rearranged fixture from Week 1. The home team will be out to avenge their 3-2 away defeat to the Ukrainians in Week 7. Following that headline clash, Cuba Domadores face the China Dragons on Friday evening, in the Coliseo Ciudad Deportiva, in Havana.
Cuba Domadores vs Ukraine Otamans, the Boxers to watch on Thursday night:
As expected, Cuba Domadores’ Joahnys Oscar Argilagos will compete in Light Flyweight class (49 kg) on Thursday. The 19-year-old current AIBA World Champion already participated in nine World Series of Boxing matches out of which he won six. Argilagos will face Ukraine Otamans 2015 National Championship runner-up Denys Kozaruk.
The Cuban Bantamweight class (56 kg) star, Robeisy Ramirez, is in top form to encounter Ukraine Otamans’ Ivan Soloviov who will make his WSB debut match in Havana.
London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist and WSB Team Champion Yasniel Toledo Lopez and his amazing footwork will be hard to handle for Ukraine Otamans’ newcomer Oleksandr Grechykha in their Light Welterweight class (64 kg) bout.
Cuban Middleweight class (75 kg) star favourite Arlen Lopez should bring another victory against Ukraine Otamans’ Taras Holovashchenko.
Erislandy Savon recently qualified for Rio 2016 after his performance the AIBA American Olympic Qualification Event. He is impatient to start his first Season VI boxing match against Ukraine Otamans’ Dmytro Lisovyi who won his WSB debut fight in China on Week 9, in the Heavyweight class.
Cuba Domadores vs China Dragons, the Boxers to watch on Friday night:
The Cuban Flyweight Yosbany Veitia, who has already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, will face China’s Fang Bo.
His 21-year-old compatriot promising Lightweight Armando Martinez is favoured against China’s inexperienced Yong Wang– who lost his debut fight in WSB Season VII, Week 7.
In a highly talented Cuba Domadores team, Roniel Iglesias still manages to stand out. The London 2012 Olympic Games welterweight champion will face China Dragon’s Wenbin Cong.
Emmanuel Reyes replaces a legend of boxing in the Cuba Domadores squad, as three-time AIBA World Champion Julio Cesar La Cruz steps aside. However Reyes will do his best against Yawei Zhang, who until Week 7 had only ever fought in military events at an international level.
Fresh from securing his place last month at the Rio 2016 Games, Cuba Domadores’ Leinier Pero wraps proceedings up with a super heavyweight contest against debutant Abudusemaiti Abulaiti.
USA Knockouts in Action in Miami
2016 Olympian Carlos Balderas (Santa Maria, Calif.) will lead a team of potential Olympians in to action tomorrow in World Series of Boxing competition in Miami. Four Olympic Trials champions will join Balderas in Friday’s USA Knockouts battle with the Morocco Atlas Lions at the Miccousukee Sports and Entertainment Dome. Flyweight Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee, Fla.), welterweight Paul Kroll (Philadelphia, Pa.), light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel (Anaheim, Calif.) and super heavyweight Marlo Moore (Hayward, Calif.) will all compete for the first time since returning home from the Olympic qualifying event in Argentina in tomorrow’s action.
The two squads will take the ring at Miccousukee at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET in a match-up with playoff implications for the home ring USA Knockouts. The contest is the second of the year between the Moroccan squad and the American team with the opposite group of weight divisions having traveled to Morocco in February.
Pan American Games champion Vargas will face off with Morocco’s Archaf Kharroubi in flyweight competition and Balderas will battle the Atlas Lions’ Hamza Rabii in the lightweight division bout. Kroll will face a tough challenge in recent WSB Boxer of the Week Mohammed Rabii of Morocco in their welterweight match-up. In the light heavyweight division, Esquivel will take on Hassan Saada and Moore will make his WSB debut in a contest with Morocco’s Ahmed Bourous.
As Friday’s match has WSB playoff implications for the USA Knockouts, the competition holds increased importance for the home team. The USA Knockouts vs. Morocco Atlas Lions match will be live streamed at 8:30 p.m. ET and you can watch all of the action via this link – http://www.dailymotion.com/worldseriesboxing.
Coaches Kay Koroma (Burke, Va.), Joe Guzman (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Benny Roman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) will lead the United States team in Miami. Newly crowned 2016 Olympian Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.) will be ringside to support his teammates and they will all return to Colorado Springs on April 10 to resume training at the Olympic Training Center.
Friday’s Bout Sheet
201+ lbs/91+ kg: Marlo Moore, Hayward, Calif./USA vs Ahmed Bourous, Morocco Altas Lions
178 lbs/81 kg: Jonathan Esquivel, Anaheim, Calif./USA Knockouts vs Hassan Saada, Morocco Atlas Lions
152 lbs/69 kg: Paul Kroll, Philadelphia, Pa. vs Mohammed Rabii, Morocco Altas Lions
114 lbs/52 kg: Antonio Vargas, Kissimmee, Fla./USA Knockouts vs. Achraf Kharroubi, Morocco Atlas Lions
132 lbs/60 kg: Carlos Balderas, Santa Maria, Calif./USA Knockouts vs. Hamza Rabii, Morocco Atlas Lions
More WSB Action & Details
The Russian Boxing Team aim for a clean sweep as they take on Group C rivals Venezuela Caciques in Moscow
The undefeated Russian Boxing Team will be looking to do the double over Venezuela Caciques on Friday evening and make it five wins from five in Season VI. The two highest ranked teams in Group C face each other in the Druzhba Sport Palace in Moscow.
The home team won’t have it all their way against the Venezuela Caciques, who trail them by just a point at the top of the table. Venezuela’s highly talented South American Youth Championship winner Franklin Jose Gonzalez takes on fellow flyweight Ovik Ogannisian in the first fight of the night. While Gonzalez won his opening Season VI fight with an impressive victory over Rafako Hussars Poland’s experienced WSB boxer Hamza Touba, Ogannisian lost his one and only encounter this season.
In the lightweight division Adlan Abdurashidov provided one of the stories of Season V, with a string of world-class performances securing qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The 25-year-old Russian takes on Christian Palacio, who recorded an impressive victory on his WSB debut in Week 7, defeating the explosive Pole Mateusz Polski.
Two-time Season VI winner and Russian welterweight National Championship bronze medallist Albert Karibian will be favoured to make it a hatrick as he takes on Venezuela Caciques’ Victor Pinango. The 31 year old replaced WSB Boxer of Week 7 Balazs Bacskai in the Venezuela Caciques squad.
Top-ranked Russian light heavyweight Pavel Silyagin might be missing from Week 11, but compatriot Gamzat Gazaliev will still start as favourite in his bout versus Nalek Korbaj.
Silver medal winner in the famous Chemistry Cup, held in Germany last month, Andrey Afonin rounds off the action in his home country. The Russian faces Henrique Dos Santos Nascimento in the super heavyweight clash. The 1.93m Brazilian, who fights for Venezuela Caciques, was a thrilling winner in his debut WSB fight in Week 7.
The USA Knockouts gearing up for a crucial win as they chase a playoff place in Miami against the Morocco Atlas Lions
In search of a playoff place in Group B, the USA Knockouts have named a strong team, including Toronto 2015 Pan American Games gold medallist Antonio Vargas and 19-year-old lightweight sensation Carlos Balderas, for their match versus the Morocco Atlas Lions in Miami on Friday.
Vargas leads the home hopes in the Miccosukee Sports & Entertainment Dome taking on Achraf Kharroubi in a fascinating opening flyweight bout. While the Moroccan has already secured his spot for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the 19-year-old Vargas surprised many by failing to claim a qualification spot at the AIBA American Olympic Qualification Event in Buenos Aires in March.
There is no such worry for compatriot Carlos Balderas who sealed his 2016 place after winning four successive WSB fights in Season V. He takes on Morocco Atlas Lions’ Hamza Rabii, the younger brother of the AIBA World Champion Mohammed Rabii, in the lightweight division.
Victorious at the US National Olympic Trials, welterweight Paul Kroll will be keen to make up for his previous WSB performance, a disappointing home loss to Mexico Guerreros’ Francisco Armenta. The 20 year old will have his work cut out as he faces Morocco’s defending AIBA World Champion Mohammed Rabii, who went through Season V undefeated.
Fellow US National Olympic Trials winner Jonathan Esquivel will pit his skills against Hassan Saada in the light heavyweight bout. The US fighter enjoyed a winning WSB debut in Week 4, defeating Mexico Guerreros’ experienced Rogelio Romero.
Marlo Moore, the fourth US National Olympic Trials winner on the USA Knockouts team, takes on Ahmed Bourous in the super heavyweight class.
Just two points ahead of the Morocco Atlas Lions in Group C, it could be a nervy evening for the USA Knockouts and their fervent home supporters.
Powerful Rafako Hussars Poland eager to reward home crowd with a first win of Season VI against Argentina Condors
A reinvigorated Rafako Hussars Poland will be looking to put a season of disappointment behind them as they take on Argentina Condors in a Group C bottom-of-the-table clash in Mosir Debica, Krakow, on Friday evening.
Despite losing five out of five matches so far, the home team appear to be narrow favourites on paper, having named their strongest line-up of Season VI so far.
Poland’s national flyweight champion Maciej Jozwik makes his WSB debut. The 21 year old faces Argentina Condors’ Christian “La Joyita” Roda, who has had a mixed season so far, winning once and losing once.
Famed for his relentlessly attacking style, Mateusz Polski is liable to get the home crowd on its feet during his lightweight clash. The Baku 2015 European Games silver medallist faces Argentine Brian Nunez, who has lost both of his bouts this season.
Like his compatriot Nunez, Maximiliano Ocampo is yet to win in Season VI and faces a daunting opponent in the shape of Rio 2016-bound Steven Donnelly. The Irish welterweight, who fights for the Rafako Hussars Poland franchise, had a stunning year in 2015 to secure his Olympic spot and will be looking to make up for a disappointing defeat to Venezuela Caciques’ Balazs Bacskai in his previous WSB bout.
Arkadiusz Szwedowicz continues the trend of favoured home fighters, with the 22-year-old, 1.84m light heavyweight expected to dominate Argentina Condors’ Juan Gabriel Rizzo.
The final bout of the night is an intriguing contest between 2015 EUBC European Confederation Boxing Championship silver medallist Florian Schulz and the inexperienced but promising Argentine Kevin Nicolas Espindola. The German Schulz, who fights for Rafako Hussars Poland, will have to be at his best against the 19-year-old Espindola who dominated Venezuela Caciques’ veteran Edgar Ramon Munoz in his last WSB outing.
