This weekend sees return legs of last weekend’s match-ups in Europe and Asia. In Europe, the Istanbulls welcome Paris United on Friday night and the Moscow Kremlin Bears host Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder on Saturday.
In Asia, Baku Fires travel to Pohang and the Astana Arlans take on the Beijing Dragons at home. Week 10 action in the Americas conference starts on Sunday with Miami Gallos versus Mexico City Guerreros and continues on Monday with Los Angeles Matadors against the Memphis Force. Team rosters for these matches will be published on the WSB website 72 hours before each match.
A quarter of the boxers competing across the Asian and European conferences this weekend are ranked in the top five of their respective weight category as the battle for the top two places – and a chance to secure a quota place for the London 2012 Olympic Games by winning the Individual Championships – intensifies.
Nordine Oubaali could move up to reclaim the top spot in the bantamweight rankings, which he has held for most of the season, if he can repeat his week four victory over Abdullah Dursun of the Istanbulls on Friday. He is currently second.
Alexis Vastine is equal fourth with Solton Migitnov of Baku Fires in the middleweight standings. But their chances of moving up the table will also depend on the performance of Pedro Lima from Brazil, who is back in action this weekend for the Beijing Dragons.
Lima lies in third but has the advantage of taking all of his victories away from home. With table leader Sergiy Derevyanchenko lined up only as a reserve this week for Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder against the Moscow Kremlin Bears, another away win for Lima against the Astana Arlans could see him in first place by the end of week 10.
Lima’s middleweight contest against 2008 Olympic Games bronze medalist and 2007 World Championship bronze medalist Slam Kanat on Sunday is likely to be the most closely fought battle in the Asian conference this weekend. It will only be Kanat’s third bout this season, compared with Lima’s fifth, but the Kazakh impressed on his week six debut with a memorable second-round knock-out against Andranik Hakobyan (Armenia) of Pohang Poseidons.
Oleksiy Sivko (Ukraine) of the Istanbulls remains in contention for a top-two place in the heavyweight rankings and will face Youth World Champion Filip Hrgovic from Croatia, competing for Paris, on Friday. The match-up promises to be an exciting finale with Sivko undefeated so far in the season and Hrgovic 2-1.
Click here for this weekend’s match schedule and boxing squads.
