A close 3-2 win over Pohang Poseidons, who finish the season at the bottom of the Asian conference table, was enough to secure the last of the four World Series of Boxing play-off berths for the Astana Arlans. As one of the three boxers to win for Astana on their away visit to Pohang, bantamweight Kanat Abutalipov notched up his sixth consecutive win of the season to finish first in the individual table and secure his place in the Individual Championship.
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder had excelled in the home ring on Friday night with a 4-1 victory over the already-qualified Paris United that brought them tantalisingly close to the remaining play-off spot. But in the end there could be only one winner in the duel that has seen the two leading European sides within one point of each other for most of the season.
But Milano Thunder are not out of the competition yet, with two of their boxers, middleweight Sergiy Derevyanchenko and heavyweight Clemente Russo both topping their weight categories in the individual standings to qualify for the Individual Championships in Guiyang, China at the end of May.
The Baku Fires ended their regular season in style with a 5-0 clean sweep of the Beijing Dragons in their home ring at the Serhedchi Olmypic Sports Complex on Saturday, rounded off by a debut technical knock-out for their 30 year-old Russian Sergey Kharitinov. The Baku Fires finish top of the Asian conference standings as the best team overall, having suffered only two losses in their twelve matches since November last year.
In the last conference match of the regular season, the Moscow Kremlin Bears edged ahead to a 3-2 home win against the Istanbulls. The Bears nevertheless finish bottom of the European table, since this was only their third win of the season.
The draw for the play-offs will take place on Monday, March 21 at the WSB headquarters in Lausanne and will be broadcast live on the WSB website (www.worldseriesboxing.com). The semi-finals will then start on April 1-2, with the return legs taking place on April 15-16. The two finalists will meet in Guiyang, China on May 6-7 to compete for the title of World Series of Boxing champion and a 500,000 dollar purse. The Individual Championships will then follow in the same city two weeks later, on May 26-27.
