There was little change in the team standings at the end of the week seven matches in the World Series of Boxing, as the leading teams continued to dominate. But a few surprises in the individual bouts caused plenty of movement in the individual standings that will determine which boxers go through to the individual championships, which offer a quote place for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
With 5-0 wins in each of the team’s first two meetings, the Mexico City Guerreros were hoping for more of the same as the two teams dueled at the DeSoto Civic Center on Thursday, but the Force showed a resolve that had been missing in five of their first six contests, leaving a close split decision in the light heavyweight to decide the match and hand the Guerreros a 3-2 victory.
The deciding bout of the evening took place in the light heavyweight division featuring Javier Ortega, and Tony Mack of the Memphis Force. Ortega got the better of Mack, scoring a split-decision victory by the narrowest of margins, 48-47, 47-48, 49-48, to put the Guerreros up for good 3-1. Ortega’s win moved him up the WSB rankings to fourth, while Mack was left with a 0-2 record.
Heavyweight Javonta Charles got to fight in front of his hometown fans, friends and family in his third WSB bout and took advantage of that momentum to break into the win column for the first time in his young WSB career. Facing Alex Rivera, who came into the battle already fatigued with an illness, Charles wouldn’t let up throughout the bout. By the fifth round, Rivera had decided he had had enough and didn’t come out of the corner, giving Charles the TKO victory.
Hollywood Fight Night turned into another Los Angeles Matador exhibition on Sunday as the league-leading team showcased their superiority over the competition yet again and secured a 5-0 win against the visiting Miami Gallos.
The Matadors, competing in their new home at the Avalon Hollywood , move to 6-1 on the year and gain another three points in the overall standing for a total of 19, six ahead of their nearest competitor the Mexico City Guerreros. Miami fall to 3-4 overall with nine points. The Gallos have now dropped two in a row to the Matadors after defeating them on November 23 in each team’s season opener.
The Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Shabranskij put together perhaps the upset of the inaugural WSB season by defeating 2008 Olympic silver medalist Kenny Egan in the light heavyweight contest. Egan had been inactive since a cut to his eye in his opening bout and took a while to get his ring rhythm back again, which allowed Shabranskij to build up a good lead after two rounds, leading to the split-decision victory, 48-47, 46-49, 49-46. Shabranskij has been impressive with three wins and no losses to date, good enough to move him into third in WSB standings.
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder became the first team to inflict a home defeat on Paris United on Friday as they took a crucial 3-2 away victory at the Halle Carpentier.
Milano Thunder’s night started well as Vittorio Parrinello scored a close victory over number one ranked bantamweight John Joe Nevin. A mighty punch thrown by Nevin to Parrinello’s head in the third round motivated the Italian, who managed to win on a split decision: 47-48, 48-47, 47-48. John Joe Nevin was disappointed: “Even if I didn’t box at my best, I thought I did enough to win. The Olympics remains my main goal and I will reach it anyway,” he said. The defeat drops Nevin from first to sixth in the individual rankings.
Ludovic Groguhe remains top in the light heavyweight rankings after an impressive performance against Milano Thunder’s new signing Thomas Edward McCarthy. The Frenchman appeared stronger from the outset and the bout was stopped in the last round due to an injury to McCarthy, handing Groguhe a clear victory with a unanimous 50-45, 50-45, 50-44 score card.
With the teams tied at 2-2 going into the heavyweight contest, the last bout of the night was the decider. Tony Yoka once again faced Olympic silver medallist Clemente Russo, who defended well thanks to faster foot work. For the third time of the night the battle was stopped in the last round after Russo sustained a cut above the left eye. The Italian won on a split decision: 47-48, 47-48, 48-47. “I don’t think I deserved to lose this fight” said Yoka afterwards. “I was better than last time, I think I did rather well”. The 3-2 victory allowed Milano Thunder to move within one point of Paris United in the team standings for Europe.
The Istanbulls took a 4-1 home victory against the Moscow Kremlin Bears on Friday night. New signing Sukhrab Shidaev was the only boxer to win for Moscow, with a unanimous decision against Onur Sipal in the middleweight contest.
Mehmet Topcakan extended his record to 3-0 at bantamweight, while new signing David Oliver Joyce opened with a victory over Adlan Abdurashidov in the lightweight contest. Germany’s Enrico Kolling also moved to 3-0 for the season after beating Zhavlonbek Usmanov by unanimous decision. The win moves Kolling up to third place in the individual boxer standings.
Heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui improved to 2-1 with a unanimous decision over the new Moscow signing Arslanbek Makhmudov. The victory leaves the Istanbulls trailing Milano Thunder by five points in the hotly contested European conference.
Baku Fires remain the only unbeaten team in the WSB after once again beating the Beijing Dragons away on Saturday. But the victory was far from easy pickings as the teams were tied 2-2 going into the final heavyweight contest.
Luo Shaofang avenged his loss to Magomed Abdulhamidov in week one of the tournament by becoming the first boxer to beat the Azeri this season. Luo connected more often with strong punches, which the judges reflected with a unanimous 48-46, 49-45, 49-45 in his favor.
Baku Fires equaled the scores in the lightweight contest after Fang Lei admitted he was not satisfied with his performance against Ramal Amanov, in another repeat of the team’s opening match.
Liu Wei defeated Mahamed Nurudzinau of the Baku Fires with a unanimous decision on points. He had previously lost to Olympic Champion Bakhyt Sarsekbayev in week two. “He (Bakhyt) is a very experienced boxer. But I’m young and improving my status over every fight. I know I didn’t look too impressive, but a win is a win,” he modestly confided after the match.
Ramazan Magomedov brought Baku level again by beating Faye Assane in the light heavyweight contest. His new team mate Abdulkadir Abdullayev then quickly sealed the match for the Baku Fires with a second round TKO against Cheng Xiangyang in the heavyweight match-up. The undefeated Baku Fires are five points clear of their nearest rival, Astana Arlans, in the Asian conference and are statistically the best team overall.
The Astana Arlans maintain a slender lead over Milano Thunder as the best second-placed team overall after a 3-2 win against the Pohang Poseidons in Korea on Saturday.
Things started badly for the Poseidons on their first home match in a new venue, as the Arlans quickly opened up a 3-0 lead to seal the match after the first three bouts.
The Poseidons responded with wins for Abdelhafid Benchabla from Algeria in the light heavyweight bout, who is ranked second and remains in contention for a place in the individual championships, and his compatriot Chouaib Bouloudinats, who salvaged a valuable point for the Poseidons with a close win on points against Milutin Stankovic 48-47, 49-46, 48-47.
