Cuba Domadores maintain perfect Season VI start with 5-0 away win over China Dragons
Last season’s WSB runners-up Cuba Domadores eased to their second away win of the new campaign on Saturday, beating China Dragons 5-0 in the Sanya Sports Centre Stadium. The Cubans will now travel to Ukraine at the end of the month for Week 7’s top of the table clash, while China will be looking to register their first win against Turkiye Conquerors.
Chinese National Championship bronze medalist Huang Xin was called upon to replace He Junjun at flyweight for the Dragons’ opening bout against Santiago Amador. Two devastating opening rounds saw Amador take the advantage early on but Xin responded well, finding his range with some strong uppercuts, only to narrowly lose the split judges’ decision.
After that hectic opening bout, Wang Long tried valiantly to get his team back on level terms against Domadores’ London 2012 Olympic Bantamweight Champion Robeisy Ramirez, but the Cuban was eager to open his Season VI account in positive fashion and looked almost untouchable on route to a straightforward unanimous decision.
Dragons’ Hu Qianxun has moved up to the light welterweight class to reclaim his place on the team, but Saturday’s opponent Kevin Brown, seven years his junior, dominated their bout to give Cuba an unassailable 3-0 lead. Zhao Minggang was then unable to get close to current AIBA World Middleweight Champion Arlen Lopez in the fourth bout, wrapping up the contest in style with a devastating left jab to end the action in the third round.
The Domadores’ Frank Sanchez then sealed the whitewash with a comprehensive victory over Dragons’ Li Mingtao in the fifth and final contest of the night. With the match already won, heavyweight Sanchez kept his concentration against his heavier opponent, staying on top of Mingtao from start to finish and once more underlining the Cubans’ title credentials this season as his team went top of Group A.
Ukraine Otamans march to the top of Group A with comprehensive 4- 1 win over Turkiye Conquerors
Ukraine Otamans won their second match of Season VI on Friday night as they proved too hot for the Turkiye Conquerors in Lviv. After winning a tight opening bout the hosts never looked back, cruising to a 4-0 lead before Turkish heavyweight Seyda Keser stopped Denys Poyatsyka in the fourth round of the final to get the visitors a point on the board.
It could have been a different story had the Otamans’ Nazar Kurotchyn not edged past Hamza Kartal in the see-saw opening light flyweight bout. The Ukrainian National Champion was caught off-guard in the early exchanges before seizing control, only to lose his way again in the fourth round. With the bout finely balanced going into the decisive fifth, Kurotchyn’s greater stamina saw the judges award him the victory and put the hosts 1-0 up.
In the second bout of the night, Ukrainian bantamweight talent Oleh Dovhun went on the attack early with some well-timed left-hooks against Conquerors’ 19-year-old Nurettin Ovat. Ovat found his rhythm in the second round, but Dovhun proved once again why he is the bright young talent of the Otamans’ setup, comfortably taking the judges’ decision after a thrilling bout.
At 33 years old, Ukraine’s National Welterweight Champion Volodymyr Matviichuk is the most senior member of the Otamans’ team and his opponent on Friday evening Yakup Sener couldn’t repeat the form he showed in a Week 1 victory over China Dragons’ Caicheng Meng. Some classic Matviichuk uppercuts helped steer him to a straightforward points win and the Otamans to an unassailable 3-0 lead on the night.
The fourth contest saw the hosts’ southpaw debutant Valerii Kharlamov take on Conquerors’ Evren Tibukoglu, another winner from the Turks’ opening week triumph over China. Kharlamov was taking no chances of becoming Tibukoglu’s second victim of Season VI and dominated the battle from the first round giving the judges a straightforward decision.
The night finally ended on a high note for the Conquerors thanks to heavyweight Seyda Keser as he delivered a surprise TKO against Otamans’ veteran star Denys Poyatsyka. On the strength of the overall display on Friday in Lviv, it looks like the Ukrainians will be favourites to push Cuba for the Group A top spot .
Argentina Condors looking to build momentum in Group C as they face Rafako Hussars Poland in Buenos Aires in Week 5 of WSB Season VI
The new-look Argentina Condors will be aiming to make it two wins from two home matches on Saturday night as they host Rafako Hussars Poland in the capital city of Buenos Aires. Having despatched their regional rivals Venezuela Caciques in Week 3, victory over a Polish outfit yet to take all three points from either of their first two matches of Season VI could see the Condors go top of Group C.
Argentine light flyweight Junior Zarate has been involved with national team since 2007, and he will be keen to avenge defeat at the hands of Dawid Jagodzinski in last season’s group stage when he faces the Polish star once more in what looks set to be an explosive start to the action.
Elias Gonzalez was knocked out by Venezuela Caciques’ Jose Diaz in the corresponding week of last season, but the bantamweight looks in better shape as he prepares to go into the ring against Poland’s Tammer Tournament silver medalist Adrian Kowal on Saturday night.
Having lost to the European side in Seasons III and V, Condors’ 22-year-old Ronan Sanchez will be hoping to avoid a hat-trick of WSB defeats to Polish boxers when he goes up against Mateusz Kostecki in the evening’s third contest. A tough test also faces his compatriot Joaquin Lingua, a newcomer on the international stage who will need to summon some steel if he is to overcome Rio 2016 qualifier Tomasz Jablonski, who registered an impressive 6-1 record last season.
Rounding off the action for the home side in Buenos Aires will be Dario Alcapan, standing in for the Condors’ heavyweight regular Yamil Peralta. Alcapan struggled for form in Season V, and will need the crowd to provide some extra lift as he endeavours to get past the challenge of Poland’s European Confederation silver medalist Igor Jakubowski.
Mouthwatering bantamweight bout in prospect as Venezuela Caciques host Group C rivals Russian Boxing Team in Vargas in Week 5 of WSB Season VI
Following the Caciques’ recent trips to Warsaw and Buenos Aires, Venezuelan boxing fans finally get their first taste of WSB Season VI action on Saturday night as the Russian Boxing Team descends on Vargas. The Caciques won their season opener in Poland before narrowly losing to regional rivals Argentina Condors, while the Russian side also found success against the Hussars when they turned around a 2-0 deficit in Week 3.
Yonny Calderones was a spectator for the Venezuelans throughout Season V, but the light flyweight finally gets the chance to show what he’s capable of when he takes on Bator Sagaluev, the intimidating European Games gold medalist famous for his lethal right hooks.
Another Russian European Games champion, bantamweight Bakhtovar Nazirov, then steps into the ring for what could be the bout of the evening against Caciques’ star Hector Luis Garcia. The Dominican Republic-native had a strong Season V in a year that also saw him take silver medals at the Pan-American Games and American Confederation Championships, and fans can expect fireworks when the two in-form athletes clash in Vargas.
At just 18 years-old, Caracas-based light welterweight Jesus Salvador Correa will try to inject some youthful exuberance into the Caciques side when he takes on the experienced 2012 European Champion Avak Uzliyan, before middleweights Endry Saavedra and Russian National Champion Andrey Kovalchuk go head-to-head in the fourth bout of the night.
Irishman Darren O’Neill will step into the ring for Venezuela in the evening’s final encounter, knowing that victory will give his team a timely boost ahead of the Week 7 visit from Rafako Hussars Poland. The 2012 Olympian will be hoping to round things off in style as he tackles the experienced Sergey Kalchugin, himself a fixture on the elite international circuit since 2006.
Russian Boxing Team earn hard-fought win 3 – 2 in Venezuela to go top of Group C with back-to-back
away wins
The Russian Boxing Team are enjoying life on the road so far in WSB Season VI. The side kicked off the new campaign with a Week 3 win in Poland, and on a close-run Saturday night of boxing in Vargas, it was the Venezuela Caciques who were the latest victims. A tight 3-2 defeat means the South Americans now have a win and two defeats from their opening three contests.
The hosts’ light flyweight Yonny Calderones made his debut in the opening bout, facing Bator Sagaluev, the Russian with a growing AOB reputation for delivering knockout blows. Sagaluev also showed his lightening speed from the opening moments, leaving Calderones chasing shadows and absorbing quick-fire blows until his defences finally capitulated in the fourth round and the visitors seized the early advantage.
Caciques’ main draft pick for the new season was the Dominican Republic’s Hector Luis Garcia, and he showed how valuable he will be to his new team with an impressive display against Russia’s European Games champion Bakhtovar Nazirov. Southpaw Garcia used the middle of the ring to control Nazirov’s movements in the first three minutes before raising the tempo with some well-judged uppercuts, controlling the final stages to tie the match.
Promising young Venezuelan Jesus Salvador Correa put up a brave fight against the visitors’ tough light welterweight Avak Uzliyan, but the 18 year old was unable to cause an upset and the Russians were ahead once again, before Caciques’ Endry Jose Saavedra took the tie down to the wire with a gritty, hard-fought victory over Russia’s National Middleweight Champion Andrey Kovalchuk.
That left another Venezuelan draft pick, Ireland’s Darren O’Neill, and Russian Team’s Sergey Kalchugin to decide the match. The heavyweights felt the pressure in a tight opening bout, but Kalchugin found his range and rhythm as the bout wore on, sapping the Irishman’s energies with a series of body blows from which he wasn’t able to recover. A unanimous judges’ decision awarded the Russian the bout and his side the match, launching them to the top of Group C ahead of a Week 7 trip to Buenos Aires where they will face Argentina Condors on 26 February.
Ruthless start puts tie beyond battling Rafako Hussars Poland as Argentina Condors win 3-2 in Buenos Aires
Three devastating performances from Argentina Condors’ opening trio of boxers on Saturday night put their WSB Group C clash with Rafako Hussars Poland beyond the visitors’ reach, despite a late rally from the powerful pair of Tomasz Jablonski and Igor Jakubowski. It has been a dream start to Season VI for the Condors, who will now face a stiff challenge in Week 7 when Russian Boxing Team arrive in the capital Buenos Aires for a top-of-the-table clash.
The Argentine side’s stylish light flyweight Junior Zarate has been a fixture of the national team since 2007, and he got the night off to the perfect start for the hosts, avenging a Season V defeat at the hands of Poland’s Dawid Jagodzinski with a unanimous points win over his rival.
Bantamweight Elias Gonzalez then controlled the second bout of the night against Rafako Hussars’ 19-year-old WSB debutant Adrian Kowal, and Polo Rodriguez’s put the match beyond doubt when he despatched Polish National Light Welterweight Champion Mateusz Kostecki in a thrilling encounter.
With the score at 3-0 the Polish side refused to lie down, and middleweight legend Tomasz Jablonski was the man to steady the ship with a comprehensive win over the hosts’ WSB debutant Joaquin Lingua. Already qualified for Rio 2016, Jablonski was in ruthless form, with the brave Lingua content to have five rounds of high-level international experience under his belt.
Another of Poland’s big-hitters then ensured the visitors went home with what could be a vital point in the context of the group qualification race. Igor Jakubowski had a clear physical advantage over Argentina’s heavyweight stand-in Dario Alcapan, and he made it count as he frustrated the Argentine, who was eventually disqualified in the fourth round of a brave battle.
