We have reached the ultimate round of fixtures in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) regular season. After this weekend, we will know which teams will face each other in the quarter-finals, as well as the boxers that will battle it out to become World Champions at the Individual Finals in May. With five matches on Friday evening, once again we bring you another night of action-packed boxing.
A wounded Astana Arlans will seek a return to form when the Venky’s Mumbai Fighters come to town. Before all eyes turn to the battle for top spot in Group A, Dynamo Moscow host the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder in what promises to be a momentous occasion. Paris United then faces the Leipzig Leopards in the clash that will define third place in Group B, as Bangkok Elephants deal with a hungry Los Angeles Matadors at the historic Pattaya Boxing World. The weekend concludes with the two in-form teams of Group B going head-to-head as Mexico City Guerreros lock horns with the unbeaten Baku Fires at fortress Foro Polanco.
Match of the week
This will be explosive, Group A supremacy will be decided by the match Dynamo Moscow vs. Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder. With the unbeaten Baku Fires supreme in the other Group, victory for either Moscow or their Italian opponents would ensure the winner does not meet the impressive Azeri squad until the WSB Team Finals, should they go all the way. Milano are going all out for the win on this one, only victory will do, with their best five fighters taking to the ring. An all-star cast will showcase their skills with Domenico Valentino, Middleweight king Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Ludovic Groguhé and Heavyweight No.1 Clemente Russo all summoned to capture victory. A daunting task for the Russian Franchise, however the home team will be in confident mood after their sublime demolition of the Astana Arlans last week. There is a lot at stake for Milano’s Vitaliy Volkov in the Bantamweight contest; a place at the Individual Finals, where he faces another southpaw, Tajikistan’s AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 bronze medallist. Moscow’s Adlan Abdurashidov will face his toughest test yet when he comes up against the talented Lightweight Valentino. This should be one hell of a match.
Fight of the week
Soon to become a double Olympian and the first Irish boxer in history to claim medals at two AIBA World Boxing Championships, John Joe Nevin of Paris United will be looking to continue his fine form this season. The 22-year-old orthodox fighter, who earlier this month won the Elite Nationals in Ireland, will battle the Leipzig Leopards’ three-time Danish Champion Rashid Kassem in the Lightweight contest. The experienced Nevin, recently nominated for the 2011 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year, alongside such stellar names as golfer Rory McIlroy and footballer Robbie Keane, will quickly look to assert his authority over the young pretender and help his team to victory and ensure qualification for the quarter-finals. It will be the second time this season that these two extremely gifted fighters have gone toe-to-toe. In week five, Nevin came out on top. Who will it be this time?
Rest of the action
Looking to bounce back from a crushing defeat last week and armed with their two Algerian stars, the Astana Arlans face the Venky’s Mumbai Fighters on home soil at the Almaty Sports Palace in Group B. Once again, the deadly duo of Abdelhafid Benchabla and Chouaib Bouloudinats will be demonstrating their power and technique in the evening’s Light Heavy and Heavyweight contests respectively. Lining up for the visitors against Benchabla will be the sole Indian representative, WSB newcomer Rahul Kumar. Bantamweight Ukrainian pocket dynamo, Ivan Ilnytskyy will also be making his debut for Mumbai when he faces 28-year old Kazak Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov. Filipino knock-out sensation Charly Suarez will be the big Lightweight attraction after his thunderous KO in his last fight. With both teams qualified for the knock-out stages and their final league table positions already assured, Astana will unveil two local fighters as southpaw Samat Bashenov faces Suarez and 21-year-old National Champion, Middleweight Rustam Svayev tests himself against the tough Israeli Konstantin Snigpour.
Battle of the European neighbours as a strong Paris United pit themselves against the Leipzig Leopards in Group B. Another match where there is a lot to fight for. The winners have so much to gain with the losers confined to facing the top ranked team in the other Group in the knock-out stages. The French outfit are lining up all their big-hitters at the Stade Pierre-de-Coubertin in the heart of the French capital for this one. Middleweight Michel Tavares will be leading the troops out with Croatian duo, Light Heavyweight Hrvoje Sep and the giant powerhouse Filip Hrgovic. This will be a tough ask for the German visitors, who will be counting on Heavyweight Alexander Povernov and 19-year-old former National Champion Arayk Marutyan to counter the threat posed by the impressive Paris United.
In the daunting surroundings of the Pattaya Boxing World, the Bangkok Elephants will look to use this cauldron of noise to their advantage and take victory against the Los Angeles Matadors. The Hollywood-based Franchise has a few scores to settle and will seek to break the hearts of the vast number of Thai fans expected to lend their support here. Taking to the canvas for the Americans will be, amongst others, undefeated Light Heavyweight Belarusian Siarhei Karneyeu and the tall 23-year-old Heavyweight crowd pleaser Javier Torres. Bangkok southpaw Wuttichai Masuk will want to avenge his defeat when he comes up against Ukraine’s Leonid Malkov for the second time this season. The star attraction for the evening will be the powerful African Champion Blaise Yepmou Mendouo, who was so impressive in his last outing for the Elephants. This one will be on a knife-edge.
We ask this question every week but who will be the first team to beat the Baku Fires? Could this be the time when the mighty Azeri outfit finally tastes defeat? With fortress Foro Polanco yet to be breached this season and with three fighters making their debuts for the visitors, the Mexico City Guerreros find themselves in a great position to do so. Promising 18-year-old southpaw Aaron Alameda Lopez has the opportunity to impress for the home team in the Bantamweight fight. Middleweight hard man Mladen Manev from Bulgaria and Croatia’s 21-year-old Light Heavyweight National Champion both have unbeaten records to protect. Baku Fires, on their part, flew out six days before the match in order to give themselves the best chances of acclimatising to the altitude. Several of the fighters went through a specialised training routine to get them into top-condition beforehand both physically and mentally ready to face the in-form Guerreros. The Fires have high hopes for Light Heavyweight Radgab Aliyev, who at only 19 years of age is already quite a phenomenon. This will be an interesting battle of wits.
Boxers to watch
This time we will look at a rivalry, a two-way battle. Look out for the fleet-footed French Paris United southpaw Michel Tavares as he bids to book his place for a shot at a World title to the detriment of Baku Fires’ intelligent 21-year-old Azeri Heybulla Mursalov. Although not fighting each other, they will be in direct competition from opposite sides of the globe; with both these Middleweights hunting down qualification for the WSB Individual Finals. Tavares comes up against Leipzig Leopards newcomer Marutyan and Mursalov battles Manev. They are two excellent boxers to watch, in what will be two pulsating fights.
What was said…
“Mexico will be tough, especially due to the altitude. Most teams experience problems with acclimatisation. That is why we flew out six days prior to the match. Our goal is ten victories in our group matches, just one more needed to reach that target. Our debutants will go all out and demonstrate the skills needed for victory”, stated Rizvan Genzhiyev, Baku Fires General Manager
“It felt great to be nominated for the 2011 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year, although I did not win, I was extremely proud of getting there. It shows that I am being recognised for all the hard work I have put in, and it is a testament to the sacrifices that were made not only by myself, but by all those around me. The nomination was also for them”, declared Paris United’s John Joe Nevin.
Plus, the Mexico City Guerreros vs. Baku Fire match will be shown on Pay-Per-View. Here are the details of the match:
Mexico City Guerreros Divisions Baku Fires
Aaron Alameda Lopez Bantamweight Magomed Kurbanov
Hurshod Tojibaev Lightweight Madadi Nagzibekov
Mladen Manev Middleweight Heybulla Mursalov
Bojan Miskovic Light Heavyweight Radgab Aliyev
Omar Garcia Heavyweight Farid Shabanov
WHEN: Friday, February 17, 2012 – 10 PM/ET 7 PM/PT
WHERE: Foro Polanco, Mexico City, Mexico
PAY-PER-VIEW INFORMATION: The WSB show will being distributed in the United States by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 10:00 PM/ET – 7:00 PM/PT on cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN DEMAND ,DirecTV, DISH Network and Avail-TVN for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. The WSB show will also be available via on-line PPV on Ustream.tv at http://www.ustream.tv/integratedsportsppv.
ANNOUNCERS: Hall of Famer Col. Bob Sheridan and veteran boxing color commentator Benny Ricardo.
