Season reaches its climax as WSB Team Final is upon us
We have reached the pinnacle of the World Series of Boxing season on Wednesday 2 May as Dynamo Moscow and Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder come face-to-face for the title decider at the ExCeL London. Both teams have come through a grueling campaign and now one victory separates them from ultimate glory. A capacity crowd is expected to witness the clash of the year between the two toughest and most gifted teams in the competition. Five bouts, two teams, it is winner takes all. Who will claim the WSB Team Champions Trophy?
All that hard work, all those hours in the gym, and now the moment of reckoning has arrived. The pride of Russia versus the glamour of Italy as ten fighters take to the ring for five sensational bouts during one evening of adrenaline fuelled action. This world class match will see the cream of the crop battling it out for supremacy on the biggest stage of all.
The drama is set to unfold as first up Vladimir Nikitin and Vincenzo Picardi get proceedings underway with the Bantamweight contest. Both these orthodox fighters bring pedigree to the opening fight. Nikitin, at 22 years of age and in his first WSB season, has really made his mark for Dynamo with three wins in his four bouts this year. The orthodox Russian was key to Moscow’s win in the semi-finals, dispatching of Rakhimzhanov of Astana Arlans in style in a performance that saw him come of age. On the other hand, Picardi, a 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist, has been used sparingly this season but when he has been called upon, has not disappointed. The 27-year-old Italian defeated the division’s top ranked fighter Garibek Germakhanov of Baku Fires in devastating fashion in the semi-finals and both his experience and his height advantage could decide his intriguing match-up against Nikitin. One for the boxing purists.
Adlan Abdurashidov really came to the fore for his team this season, recording five wins in as many bouts as he stormed to the top of the Lightweight ranking. The 21-year-old Russian established himself as one of the leaders in the Dynamo squad and his explosive repertoire of shots really set this competition alight. on Wednesday he faces the emerging Serbian talent Branimir Stankovic, whose polished display against Baku Fires made the rest of the division stand up and take notice of his potential at this level. Abdurashidov has the reach and the experience to make the difference in this fascinating battle but Stankovic has the skills to match his opponent in all departments. It promises to go to wire.
Middleweight king and reigning WSB Individual Champion Sergiy Derevyanchenko will face one of his biggest challenges when he takes to the ring against the cultured 28-year-old Russian Maxim Gazizov of Dynamo Moscow. The Ukrainian Milano Thunder master is now eleven fights undefeated in his WSB career and just mentioning his name strikes fear into his opponents. However Gazizov, with his trademark watertight defences, will pose a serious threat. Derevyanchenko loves to dictate the pace of his bouts, controlling proceedings from the centre of the ring but in Gazizov he will find a rival that can soak up that kind of pressure, and being such an accomplished counter-puncher, could spring a surprise. Both are evenly matched in terms of height and reach so it could all boil down to who wants it more on the night. This could be the bout that decides who takes the title. Can the Russian topple the quick and agile Derevyanchenko and do what no other boxer in the competition has managed to achieve?
Oleksandr Gvozdyk was a name many were unfamiliar with coming into the knock-out stages of this year’s competition. However after defeating both the Light Heavyweight WSB Individual Championship finalist from last season, Frenchman Ludovic Groguhé then Algerian superstar Abdelhafid Benchabla in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, the 190cm tall 24-year-old two-time National Champion ensured he was the man to line-up for his team in the WSB Team Final. The Ukrainian will pit his wits against stalwart Hungarian Imre Szello of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder. Szello, at 28 years of age, has the know-how to do damage and with three wins from his three fights this season, will be full of confidence when he faces Gvozdyk. The two technically gifted orthodox boxers will be holding nothing back and will be both going all-out for the win. This one promises to be explosive from the onset.
The packed ExCeL arena will be red-hot for the final clash of the evening when two of the hardest men in the competition take to the canvas. Clemente Russo is not only one of the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder’s leading boxers but he is by far one of the biggest attractions in the WSB and his Heavyweight battle with the powerful Russian Vitaly Kudukhov will surely bring the house down. The Italian took gold at the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Chicago, USA, before coming home with the silver from the Beijing Olympic Games a year later but it is in the WSB that the 29-year-old has really established himself as a boxing superstar. Like team mate Derevyanchenko, Russo is also a WSB belt holder after reigning supreme at the Individual Championships last season and the man from Caserta extended his unbeaten record to thirteen wins after another flawless campaign this time around. In the opposite corner, Kudukhov packs some serious power in his punches and with two TKOs to his name in his last three bouts, this 22-year-old will look to unsettle Russo early on. With the WSB Team Champions trophy at stake, expect the big boys to put on a real show.
Who do you think will come out on top? Do not miss any of the action as all fights are broadcast LIVE on worldseriesboxingtv.com.
