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There is an old Chinese curse which says” may you live in interesting times”. Well over the last couple of weeks we have certainly been living in interesting times in boxing. We had two major fights which ended in controversy, we had Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez setting out to drum up interest in their coming fight (if you need to be “sold” on this fight you are obviously not a boxing fan) and the date for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Connor McGregor fight rolled out (if you buy this fight you are obviously not a boxing fan).

Apart from the controversy the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev fight was unremarkable. The first fight was much better. I had Kovalev one point in front but had given the sixth and seventh to Ward as Kovalev looked to be fading. The referee gave Kovalev a rough deal. On three occasions Kovalev stepped back to indicate he had been hit low and on each occasion Ward stopped also acknowledging that he had gone low. By not warning Ward the referee was almost inviting him to keep going low. You can never be 100% sure but I felt that even without the low blows Ward was on his way to a stoppage win. Kovalev made no complains. He made it clear Ward was the better fighter on the night and talked about being 34 and doing something else with his life. Naturally his team has launched a protest. They could not do otherwise. They are paid to look after Kovalev’s interests. I can’t see any action being taken to order a rematch and I don’t believe either fighter wants one at least not in the near future.

Ward has said he is looking at cruiser or even heavy. He is not signed up to VADA CBP so we can’t know what he might be smoking! There are fights at light heavy for him and perhaps even cruiser where apart from Olek Usyk the champions are not fearsome beasts. Tony Bellew is a possibility but Tony swings with the wind-he might retire, he might go up to heavyweight, he might fight Ward etc. Clean up your own house first Andre-fight Adonis Stevenson.

I have to feel sorry for Guillermo Rigondeaux. The brilliant Cuban gets labelled boring and when he finally scores a spectacular knockout he is one second out on his timing. Judging by precedents such as Rances Barthelemy vs. Argenis Mendez it is likely to end up as a No Decision and instead of moving on he will have to go over old ground. I felt sorry for the referee. The look of amazement on his face when he turned around and saw Moises Flores lying spread-eagled on the canvas was almost comical. The difference between a punch landing before, on or after the bell is a split second and it would have been impossible for Rigondeaux to have stopped that last punch so the real question is did he launch it after the bell?

It can’t get much better than Gennady Golovkin vs. Saul Alvarez. Two great boxers-future Hall of Fame inductees who are both still at their peak and who love to fight aggressively. It’s a 50/50 fight for me so my neck is not going to emerge over the top button of my shirt anytime soon.

For me like so many others Mayweather vs. McGregor is a non-event which I wish wasn’t going to happen. It will prove nothing. There is no title at stake. There are no redeeming features. What puzzles me is why I feel so strongly. If I don’t care who wins why am I angry about it. There is a lot of anger in the boxing fraternity over this charade and it is being condemned by many big names in boxing. I don’t believe it will hurt boxing unless you feel that a knock to Mayweather’s dignity is important or are we worried that if McGregor wins it will mean that UFC is better than boxing. I find myself where I am totally a’gin it and I am not sure why I am so totally a’gin it-but I am. It is also irritating that they have selected 26 August the same night as Miguel Cotto’s fight against Yoshihiro Kamegai. It has to hurt that show as you can be sure that boxing, UFC fans and general sports fans will buy Mayweather vs. McGregor in sufficient numbers to make it one of the largest sporting events in history-and I am still a’gin it. The WBO are in favour which does not surprise me at all.

Mauricio Sulaiman has been talking up an Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder fight. Sure it is a good fight but don’t you think after five voluntary defences Wilder should fight a mandatory challenger before he looks outside the WBC ratings for an opponent?

The WBA have stripped Beibut Shumenov of their secondary cruiser title and upgraded Yunier Dorticos to their secondary champion. They have also ordered their super champion Denis Lebedev to fight Mark Flanagan, their No 8, with the winner to fight Dorticos so that they then meet their stated aim of one champion in each division. Shumenov has not fought for 13 months and reportedly has an eye injury that may force his retirement. The fact that their super champion Lebedev was beaten by Marat Gassiev in December is ignored as that fight was only for the IBF title which makes it all a mockery. As for their one champion why do they show”vacant” against the secondary titles in four divisions if they are trying to drop them altogether?

Usual blatant manipulation of their ratings by the WBA saw Paul Smith go from nowhere in March to No 5 in April even though he had not fought since September. It wouldn’t be so bad if the just slipped him in at No 15 but subtlety has never been their strong point.

A fight with David Lemieux would certainly give Billy Joe Saunders a chance to boost his profile. No fault of his that Avtandil Khurtsidze got arrested but by 16 September the scheduled date for his next fight he will have had only one fight in 21 months. He and Lemieux have been exchanging barbs but the timing has to be right for Saunders to take on a big puncher like Lemieux and unless the WBO order it a voluntary defence in September and Lemieux after that might work out better for him but he must be desperate to get back into action.

The HBO show on 9 September will feature five of the top super flyweights in the world with Roman Gonzalez vs. Srisaket, Carlos Cuadras vs. Juan Francisco Estrada and Naoya Inoue vs. Antonio Nieves. Gonzalez will be looking for revenge for his controversial loss to Srisaket which cost him his WBC title. Cuadras and Estrada will be fighting for the right to meet the winner for the WBC title with Inoue defending his WBO title against Antonio Nieves. The WBO have not yet managed to switch Nieves from No 7 bantam to somewhere at super fly since he lost to Nikolai Potapov in March but they will.

The date for the return fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Omar Salido is set for 8 August. The brilliant Ukrainian will be looking to get revenge for his lone loss as a pro when Salido came in overweight and roughed up Lomachenko on the way to a disputed split decision. The 36-year-old Salido has had wars of attrition with Terdsak, Roma Martinez and Francisco Vargas since then and for me Lomachenko will get the win I thought he deserved the first time.

Also rolled out for our pleasure is the Adrien Broner vs. Mikey Garcia fight for 27 July in New York. An intriguing fight that Broner dare not lose. He struggled to beat Adrian Granados on a split decision in February and Garcia is a much tougher proposition. I would take him to easily beat anyone at lightweight and be the only one capable of giving Terence Crawford a real challenger at super light.

The WBA have called for purse bids for the return fight between Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis for their secondary bantam title. They met in November with McDonnell winning the unanimous decision which proved controversial in some circles but which I though McDonnell won clearly. The minimum purse bid is set at $120,000 with McDonnell share of the purse 75% and Solis 25%. The problem is that although a good fight at a figure of over $120,000 it is only viable as a support to a much bigger fight

The supporting fights for the 1 July fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn will see Jerwin Ancajas defending his IBF super fly title against his No 3 challenger Teiru Kinoshita. Ancajas gave Pacquiao his first world champion as a promoter. The Japanese fighter is ranked No 3 although the first two places are vacant. He can’t go into one of those slots as he has not beaten a rated fighter-but it is OK to put him No 3! Irish hope Michael Conlan will face Jarrett Owen and Jonel Dapidran, a cousin of Pacquiao, will also be on the card.

The worrying part about signing up to the VADA CBP is that you might actually get a random test. That’s the case for former European champion Dennis Ceylan. The Dane tested positive for cocaine and now waits to find out what punishment is in store for him.

Still on Danish boxing Mikkel Kessler has ruled himself out of the World Boxing Super Series. Quite sensibly he decided that after four years of inactivity he would need a lot more time to prepare before entering that competition.

On almost the same day as Kessler made that decision former WBA champion Firat Arslan said he wanted to take part in the tournament. The 46-year-old German fights 31-1 Goran Delic on 15 July for the vacant WBO European title and is hoping to impress there to earn an invitation.

Still in that part of the world Swede Erik Skoglund has despaired of landing a title shot at light heavy so has decided to move down to super middle. Not sure who he is targeting but there are very few easy avenues at super middle whereas if Andre Ward moved up there would be three vacant titles at light heavy.

Former WBC super middle champion Sakio Bika is returning to action. The Cameroon-born Australian tackles Australian Luke Sharp (14-5-3) in Sydney on 8 July for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council title. It will be the first fight for over two years for Bika.

On 1 July Oscar de La Hoya will be heading down to Villa Mercedes in Argentina for the inauguration of a new sports centre there. His cousin Diego will fight in the main event of opening show against Alan Isaias Luques.

Fights to watch out for: In his first fight since losing his WBO title to Olek Usyk in September former WBO cruiser champion Krzys Glowacki (26-1) returns to action on Saturday against unbeaten Turk Hizni Altunkaya (29-0). August 15 Kyoto Shinsuke Yamanaka (27-0-2) meets unbeaten Mexican Luis Nery (23-0). It will be defence No 13 of his WBC bantam title for Yamanaka.

Interesting to see that the EBU have set a date of 19 July for purse offers for the fight between Ahmed El Mousaoui and Frankie Gavin for the vacant European Union welterweight title as Gavin makes another effort to get his career rolling again.

Late substitutions are the bane of the sport. Last weekend in Estonia there was to be a fight between Robert Helenius and Ian Lewison for the WBC International Silver title. Not a bad fight until things fell apart. With Lewisham not able to fight the search went on for a last minute replacement. One was found that was acceptable to the WBC but was not acceptable to Helenius and the only name left on the board was a poor opponent in Evgeny Orlov leaving the choice between a bad fight and no fight and probably no show so a choice between a rock and a hard place for the WBC. Helenius vs. Orlov went on for the Silver title and no one got hurt so sometimes we have to work with shades of grey in this sport.

WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt has gone to jail. Don’t panic! He has visited a jail in Hermosillo, Mexico giving exhibitions and talking to young inmates about how with work and discipline they can fulfil their dreams. He has fitted this into his training for a title defence against Takashi Miura in Inglewood on 15 July.

The boxing fraternity in South Africa lost two of its stalwarts in Freddy Rafferty and Len Hunt. Rafferty, a former South African cruiser champion, scored some good wins over opposition such as Piet Crous and Tony Fulilangi in a 14 year career finishing with a 32-14-2 record. Hunt was a top class referee but his major contribution came in his work with the South Africa National Boxing Control Commission as they rebuilt the sport in a post apartheid period. RIP gentlemen.

The latest news on German boxer Eduard Gutknecht is not good. Since collapsing after his fight with George Groves and undergoing extensive brain surgery in England Gutknecht is now back home in Germany. Although there has been slight progress his condition is still serious. He can hear and see and has slight movement of his head and arms he is unable to speak. Boxing people from around the world have made donations to help his wife and three children at this time including a generous donation from George Groves and his team.
Italian Bepi Ros is another undergoing a bad time. He has serious health and financial problems and again the 74-year-old former Italian heavyweight champion has found the boxing fraternity generous with their help.  

The Astana Arlans took a 4-1 lead in to the second leg of their WSB semi-final encounter versus the British Lionhearts at the prestigious York Hall in London.

First up at flyweight (52kg) debutant Niall Farrell took on Olzhas Sattibayev. Not much of note was landed by either man in a tentative opening round but Farrell didn’t seem overawed. At times Farrell stayed in the pocket a bit too long allowing Sattibayev to score with combinations but the Lionhearts youngster finished round 2 strongly and was still in the fight. Farrell had great success with the right hand in round 3 before Sattibayev edged a close 4th with the fight still in the balance. There was lots of endeavour from both boxers in the last round but it was Sattibayev who gained the split decision in a highly enjoyable bout where Farrell made a real impression and announced himself as a talent for the future.

In a now must win scenario at lightweight (60kg) Kiwi Chad Milnes was up against experienced operator Zakir Safiullin. Milnes made a confident start but Safiullin’s punches began to have an effect and a beautiful right hand put Milnes down near the end of the opening round. The Kazak upped the tempo and utterly dominated his opponent in round 2 and Milnes was wisely pulled out before the third, giving Safiullin the victory and securing the Arlans spot in the WSB final.

There were still 3 bouts left and India’s Manoj Kumar faced Aslambek Shymbergenov at welterweight (69kg). Shymbergenov won the opening stanza scoring well with the jab and the right hand. Despite a small cut and the occasional success from Kumar Shymbergenov continued to control the action over the next 2 rounds. Kumar put forth a real big effort and pulled Shymbergenov in to a toe-to-toe scrap in round 4 before Shymbergenov responded in the 5th to claim the unanimous decision.
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The penultimate contest was at light heavyweight (81kg) with Tom Whittaker-Hart squaring off against Arman Rysbek. Rysbek started quickly before Whittaker-Hart managed to establish the distance in the second half of the first round. Whittaker-Hart moved well to begin round 2 but Rysbek landed some solid shots in the later stages. The Kazak built on his success and bullied the Lionheart in round 3. Whittaker-Hart produced more movement and good footwork to take the 4th and although Rysbek never stopped applying pressure it wasn’t enough with Whittaker-Hart prevailing via split decision to give the Lionhearts their first win of the evening.

The final fight of the night saw Super heavyweights (+91kg) Patrick Mailata and Nursultan Amanzholov take to the ring. Mailata’s quick hands saw him win the opening round and the man from New Zealand easily out landed his Kazak opponent in round 2. Amanzholov had no answers and a big left hand from Mailata put him down and the corner brought a halt to the contest in round 3. The Arlans won 7-3 after both legs and will face either the Cuba Domadores or the Colombia Heroicos in the final.

 The semi-finals of the WSB commenced at the Kostanay Sport Palace in Kostanay as the Astana Arlans hosted the British Lionhearts.

Kicking off the action were the Light flyweights (49kg) with Temirtas Zhussupov versus Kiaran Macdonald. Neither man threw much in a very quiet opening round. Zhussupov got the better of round 2 with both choosing wisely when to let their hands go. The Kazak again shaded proceedings in the third with Macdonald simply not throwing enough punches. Zhussupov’s experience began to tell and despite a respectable effort from the WSB debutant it wasn’t enough and Zhussupov won a clean sweep on the cards putting the Arlans 1 up.

Next up in the Bantamweight (56kg) division experienced Ilyas Suleimenov was up against Christopher Bourke who was making his WSB debut. Bourke landed some nice body shots in a tight opening 3 minutes. Suleimenov upped the ante a touch in round 2 but Bourke finished well and wasn’t looking out of his depth. Bourke had some success in round 3 but Suleimenov never looked in any trouble and was in control. Bourke enjoyed a decent first minute of the 4th but Suleimenov scored with some hurtful punches which lead to a badly damaged nose and Bourke was wisely retired by his corner at the start of the last round.

In what looked on paper to be a potentially exciting contest at light welterweight (64kg) Dilnurat Mizhitov squared off against Conor Loftus. The styles gelled nicely in an entertaining opening stanza with Mizhitov picking off Loftus as he came in. Loftus showed some good movement and targeted the body well in round 2 as the pair were happy to trade and let go with plenty of punches. Mizhitov clearly won round 3 and was having the last word in the exchanges. Loftus scored with some good left hands in the 4th and the pair engaged in some terrific toe-to-toe action. Loftus was again competitive in the final round but couldn’t sustain it for long enough and Mizhitov claimed the shutout victory to leave the Lionhearts staring down the barrel at 3 nil down.

It was then on to the Middleweights (75kg) as Abilkhan Amankul faced Nikita Ababiy. Amankul, who has been one of the finds of this season’s tournament made a confident start and landed with the more telling blows in round 1. Ababiy showed good intent but Amankul remain composed and picked his man off in round 2. Ababiy continued to be aggressive in round 3 but Amankul’s extra size and strength was beginning to tell. Ababiy continued to press and maintained an excellent work rate in the penultimate round. Amankul had his opponent on the ropes for spots in the last round and despite Ababiy being on the front foot throughout the contest it was the Kazak who was declared the winner via unanimous decision to give the Arlans a 4 nil lead.

The final bout of the evening was at heavyweight (91kg) as Anton Pinchuk took on David Nyika. There wasn’t much to split them over the first 2 rounds with Pinchuk inching forward and Nyika aiming to keep the fight at range. Nyika used the jab to great effect in round 3 as Pinchuk was made to fall short with many of his attempted combinations. A point deduction and blood pouring from the nose added to Pinchuk’s issues in round 4 and by now Nyika was in full command. The home man needed a miracle to turn things around but that never looked likely and Nyika cruised to a wide point’s victory to give the Lionhearts a glimmer of hope going in to the second leg in London on Thursday.

Can’t get too excited over Miguel Cotto signing a multi-fight deal with Golden Boy and going straight into a fight for the vacant WBO super welter title. At 36 (Cotto not me unfortunately) I have to be honest and say I see the great Puerto Rican as yesterday’s man. In his last fight he lost a wide unanimous decision to Saul Alvarez by 10, 8 and 7 points on the three cards and is 18 months older now. The fight with his selected opponent Yoshihiro Kamegai will probably be an entertaining one as much for the Japanese fighter’s style as anything. The WBO’s manipulating of their ratings for this fight are a disgrace. Cotto’s last fight was his loss to Alvarez in November 2015 but despite 18 months of inactivity he has climbed to No 1 spot in the WBO ratings. For the Cotto fight to be a “big” fight Golden Boys’ s selected opponent Kamegai also needs to be rated. No problem after six months of not being in the WBO ratings Kamegai suddenly finds the magic ratings elevator and steps out at No 12 in March this year. Not enough. In the last WBO ratings in May he has climbed to No 5 and they have time to issue a couple more ratings before fight time on 26 August so who knows where Kamegai could rise to by then. Let me see now. Miguel Cotto comes from Puerto Rico and the WBO President Francisco Valcarcel comes from………..or is there an honest explanation?

The eventual aim is a Cotto vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight perhaps in December. Marquez had a bout scheduled for July in Mexico with no opponent named yet and there is no contract in place for a Cotto fight. Added uncertainty was thrown into the mix with 43-year-old Marquez reporting a shoulder injury in training. The extent of the injury is not yet clear but it may delay his return which could throw the whole Cotto vs. Marquez schedule out.

Two world championships fight on the same bill in Sheffield. Two injured fighters two different decisions. Kell Brook suffered another orbital fracture and decided not to risk his vision. George Groves suffered a fractured jaw in the third round and knowing this could be his last chance to win a world title fought on despite the pain. For me both fighters made the right decision under the circumstances in which they found themselves. Both were courageous decisions in their own way. Yes Groves should be praised for the courage he showed in continuing but also Brook for the good sense he showed so good luck to them both. Groves will now face a lay-off for surgery and then hopefully will be back with a whole range of options waiting for him.

Errol Spence was very impressive in beating Brook. For many fans he was a champion in waiting and is now a major player in the welterweight division.

It is strange that American fighters such as Spence and Gervonta Davis never really reached the heights in the amateur world. Gervonta won a National Golden Gloves title but not much else. Spence won a hatful of titles at domestic level but his best in the wider world was quarter finalist at the World Championships and the 2012 Olympics and he failed to qualify for the Pan American Games. Neither Terrence Crawford , Gary Russell or Keith Thurman hit the heights as amateurs but now they are world class pros. Fighters such as Vasyl Lomachenko, Anthony Joshua, Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Olek Usyk have succeeded as both amateurs and professionals so I guess amateur credentials are important but they don’t tell the whole story.

I think that Gilberto Mendoza’s response to the controversial scoring in the Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam vs. Ryota Murata fight was disgraceful. Putting the scoring to one side for a moment. Because of the furore and remembering the huge value in the form of sanction fees that Japan represents to the WBA he still owed a loyalty to his judges who the WBA themselves appointed. Instead he threw Gustavo Padilla and Hubert Earle to the dogs and stabbed them in the back-yes both-to appease the critics. He should have made it clear that he saw a need to review the scoring and would do it expediently and dealt with Padilla and Earl in private. But instead of giving them any chance to discuss their scores he effectively disowned them. What sort of message does that throw out to the other WBA judges about scoring against the home fighter and about how loyalty lies with those who pay the sanction fees and not with their own people. I personally scored Murata the winner but I had as much of a disagreement with the 117-110 for Murata as I did with the 115-112 for N’Jikam. So here’s the lesson for WBA judges-vote for the home guy or if you find that impossible at least make the scores close. I checked Padilla’s record of judging in various WBA title fights going back to 2014 and there was not a single instance where he was out of line with the scores of the other two judges. I also checked the record of Earle and there was not a single instance where his score stuck out from the others. The WBA expects loyalty from its judges and they have the right to be treated with respect.

Every positive test is a black eye for boxing and normally I would see no upside in that. Shannon Briggs positive test is the exception. His whole “comeback” has been a succession of farcical “action” in the ring and ridiculous posturing and disgraceful behaviour out of it. The great WBA elimination series has fallen apart but then I never took is seriously anyway. Now the WBA are left with Fres Oquendo seeking an opponent. He is No 4 in the last published WBA ratings, one behind Briggs. Oquendo is 44-year-old and has not had a fight since a disputed loss to Ruslan Chagaev in July 2014 but due his taking the WBA to court they can’t remove him.

Who says boxing is a young man’s game. The top four in those WBA ratings are Luis Ortiz 38, Alex Ustinov 40, Briggs 45 and Oquendo 40 and then Wlad Klitschko 41. In addition Lucas Browne, the former holder of the WBA secondary title returns to action this weekend after serving bans for two positive tests. He gets an easy one for his return facing Matt Greer ( age? 40 naturally) who has lost his last nine fights Browne is a mere lad at 38. Perhaps we need yet another division named either “The Zimmer frame division” or the “Where did I leave my teeth division”. Never mind weighing in just show us your pension book.

This month should see a great deal of clarity emerging in the light heavyweight division. As I write Adonis Stevenson is about to defend the WBC title against Andrzej Fonfara in Montreal and Eleider Alvarez and Jean Pascal fight each other on the same show. On 17 June in Las Vegas Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev meet for the second time. For fans of boxing in Montreal Kovalev vs. Stevenson would probably be the preferred outcome but Ward will have something to say about that.

Good to see a resurgence of big time boxing in France. They had a class show topped by Cedric Vitu on 18 May featuring high class fights all the way down the card and as I write Olympic heavyweight champion Tony “The Artist” Yoka is due to have his first pro fight in Paris. His opponent Travis Clark is no threat but no one wants to take a chance with Yoka as Canal + has bought into him so he is the hottest property in French boxing right now. In addition to Yoka unbeaten bantam Nordine Oubaali, a 2008 and 2012 Olympian, fights Alejandro Hernandez for the WBC Silver bantamweight title and 2016 Olympian Souleymane Cissokho is also appearing.

On 10 June former WBA champion Souleymane M’Baye continues his comeback as he takes on Karim Aliliche for the French welter title. When you add Sweden’s welcome return to pro boxing, Norway about to have a pro show, Mikkel Kessler passing all his medical tests and ready to return and give an added boost to Danish boxing and Singapore dipping its toe in the water and above all the biggie of over 40,000 tickets sold for Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn in Brisbane, a place where synchronised swimming usually gets more coverage than boxing. the sport is alive and well.

Some bad news from Ghana-Floyd Mayweather Jr is visiting there this month. Only kidding. It will be a huge event for Ghana where boxing sits just behind football in popularity. Things have not been going as well as they might there so this should give the sport a boost.

It is possible that Roman Gonzalez will get his return with Thai Srisaket in California in 9 September. The Nicaraguan lost his WBC title to Srisaket on a majority decision in March. If that comes off then there is the possibility of the Japanese “Monster” Naoya Inoue defending his WBO super fly title against McWilliams Arroyo on the same show. If Gonzalez and Inoue win that would set up a great fight between Gonzalez and Inoue.

Two former victims of Gonzalez fists will meet for the interim WBC super fly title with purse bids due for Carlos Cuadras vs. Juan Francisco Estrada on 8 June. That’s a tight division with unbeaten Khalid Yafai holding the WBA title, Jerwin Ancajas the IBF title and Johnriel Casimero, Kazuto Ioka, Juan Carlos Reveco and Rex Tso all in the mix.

Brit Billy Joe Saunders faces a tough title defence on 8 July in London. His challenger Avtandil Khurtsidze is a rough brawler who pressurises for 100% of the time and has lost only one fight since 2005. Saunders needs to win and win well. With Gennady Golovkin putting the WBA, IBF and IBO titles on the line against Saul Alvarez on 16 September (Alvarez has stated he has no interest in fighting for the WBC title although that will automatically be on the line for Golovkin) and his No 1 challenger Ryota Murata probably going for the mandated return fight with Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam for the secondary WBA title his options are shrinking. If the WBO moves Murata out of the No 1 spot then the logical replacement is No 2 David Lemieux although a win over mandatory challenger Khurtsidze would put Saunders in a voluntary position. The Khurtsidze fight is only his second in the last 19 months so he needs another fight this year.
On 17 June under the Tyrone Zeuge vs. Paul Smith fight for the secondary WBA super middle title unbeaten German Stefan Haertel takes on Patrick Mendy. This will be Haertel’s first fight under new trainer the 75-year-old legendary Ulli Wegner.

Heavyweights will top the bill in Gdansk on 24 June as Tomasz Adamek tries yet again to make an impact at heavy. Now 40, the former WBC light heavy and IBF cruiser champion takes on 41-year-old Solomon Haumona. This is Adamek’s first fight since being knocked out by Eric Molina in ten rounds in April last year. Haumona’s last fight was a fourth round stoppage defeat against Joseph Parker for the WBO heavy title in July. On the undercard Mateusz Masternak faces Ismayl Sillah at cruiser and former WBO cruiser champion Krzys Glowacki faces American Brian Howard in his first fight since losing his title to Olek Usyk in September.

Former IBF super lightweight champion Eduard Troyanovsky returns to action 1 July in Moscow against Italian Michele Di Riocco. It will be the Russians first fight since his shocking 40 second kayo by Namibian Julius Indongo in December which cost him his IBF title. Former undefeated European champion Di Riocco is having his second fight since losing to Ricky Burns for the vacant WBA title in May last year.

Also on 1 July a good match for the vacant European light heavyweight title sees unbeaten Dominic Boesel (24-0) tackle former IBF title challenger Karo Murat.

The proposed IBF final eliminator between Omar Narvaez and Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodriguez has finally been consigned to the dustbin. After numerous postponements Narvaez will now face Russian Nikolai Potapov for the vacant interim WBO super fly title with the winner getting a shot at champion Zolani Tete. There is nothing wrong with Tete. He is fit and well but an interim title means another sanctioning fee for the WBO. Strangely for the WBO with this decision they have effectively screwed Puerto Rican Rodriguez who will now await the outcome of the IBF title fight between champion Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett on 10 June.

Trust your mother to embarrass you in front of your friends. The mother of Jarrett Hurd, the IBF super welter champion has told her son you are a 26-year-old world champion isn’t it about time you moved out and had a place of your own. Come on Jarrett you are a big boy now make the leap.

I am going to set up a Ministry of Nicknames with stringent rules on the use of extravagant or misleading nicknames which to me amounts to misleading the public. You get guys with the nickname of “TNT”, “Power” , “KO Kid” ,”Dynamite” , “Assassin, Destroyer” etc. with kayo percentages of 2%. You get guys with the nickname of “Baby”, “Kid” “Junior” etc. who will never see 40 again. However it goes both ways. Guys with nicknames such as “Big Baby”, Bumblebee”, “Boo Boo”, “Chocolate Hills and “Mamma’s Boy” ( all true honest) just don’t seem to understand that a nickname is supposed to strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Come on get on board guys. Oh yes you can’t use the nickname “Sugar” under any circumstances unless you are Ray Robinson or Ray Leonard. I will be watching you and you can expect to get a severe reprimand and have to wear the protector cup version of a hair shirt if you break the rules. That should keep you all up to scratch (sorry I couldn’t resist it).

(We'd like to apologise for Eric for taking so long to put this up, wesimply didn't see the email until earlier today)

We’ve now reached the quarter-final stages of the World Series of Boxing and it was 2 familiar foes who met at the Arena Sports and Entertainment Complex in Kemerovo as the Patriot Boxing Team took on the Astana Arlans.

First in the ring at light flyweight (49kg) Bator Sagaluev was up against Temirtas Zhussupov. Sagaluev used his quick feet to dart in and out to win the opening round. Zhussupov had more success in round 2 by targeting the body and the Kazak established range and landed with straight shots in round 3. Zhussupov continued to find a home for his long straight punches in round 4 before things became rather untidy in round 5. We went to the cards and it was the Russian who won a unanimous decision to give his team the perfect start.

It was then on to the Bantamweights (56kg) as debutant Maksim Chernyshev faced the highly experienced Ilyas Suleimenov. Chernyshev began brightly before Suleimenov responded in an entertaining opening stanza. Chernyshev again came out with positive intent but Suleimenov picked off his man with good right hands and body shots. The Russian pushed his opponent back and managed to sustain his attacks in round 3 before a closely fought round 4 left the contest in the balance. With it all to play for both men gave it all they had but it was the cleaner work of Suleimenov that won him the unanimous decision to level things up.

At light welterweight (64kg) Aleksei Mazur was up against Dilmurat Mizhitov. The pair exchanged shots in the opening round with Mazur fighting well off the back foot. Mizhitov got through with some good body shots in round 2 but Mazur remained composed and boxed and moved really effectively. Mizhitov’s come forward style began to pay dividends in round 3 with Mazur being forced to fight at close quarters. The Kazak continued to pile on the pressure and hammer away at the body in round 4 and it was definitely now Mizhitov’s kind of fight. The last round was rather scrappy with not much of note landed but it was Mizhitov who claimed the split decision to put the Arlans 2-1 up.

The penultimate bout was at Middleweight (75kg) with Andrey Kovalchuk taking on Saparbay Aidarov. There was very little to separate them in a quiet opening stanza and an accidental clash of heads caused a cut on the right eye of Aidarov. Neither man landed much of consequence in round 2 but the Kazak was just about getting the better of things. Aidarov demonstrated some nice movement to pinch round 3 but Kovalchuk responded to take the 4th and make things interesting going in to the last round. There was plenty of effort but until late on accuracy was lacking from both but Aidarov won the unanimous point’s victory to hand the Astana Arlans the first leg win.

The final fight saw Ilia Kvasmikov face Anton Pinchuk at heavyweight (91kg). Kvasnikov was quick out the blocks early on and a big left hand had Pinchuk in all sorts of trouble and an 8 count was administered by the referee. With his nose bleeding profusely Pinchuk was unable to continue and Kvasnikov recorded the TKO win to give the Russian’s some hope going in to the second leg.

In a salivating quarter-final powerhouses Cuban Domadores and Uzbek Tigers met in the first leg at the Anphitheater in Mojiza, Samarkand. Both sides fielded star-studded line-ups making their intentions to become WSB champions abundantly clear.

The action kicked off at light flyweight (49kg) with Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov up against current world champion Johanys Argilagos. Dusmatov, who was brimming with confidence after winning the Asian championships continued that supreme form by putting on a tremendous boxing display throughout against the Cuban. The Uzbek was on the front foot using his lightning fast hands to score with combinations against Argilagos who was always a step behind. At the final bell it was Dusmatov who won the unanimous decision to give his team the ideal start.

In the battle of the Bantamweights (56kg) recently crowned Asian champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev tussled with Javier Ibanez. Neither man wanted to give an inch in a hotly contested opening round and the toe to toe action carried on in round 2 with Ibanez just shading proceedings although Akhmadaliev was having more than his fair share of success. After a frantic first 6 minutes the pace unsurprisingly slowed with both looking to box more and pick their punches more wisely. The tempo increased in round 4 as furious exchanges lead to a pulsating 3 minutes of action. After a wonderful final round where both landed with hard combinations it was Akhmadaliev who won the split decision in what was a superb advert for WSB boxing between 2 bonified high quality fighters.

With the Tigers now 2 nil up light welterweight (64kg) Ikboljon Kholdarov had the chance to put the first leg beyond doubt against Andy Cruz. Both were looking to counted which resulted in a tactical opening stanza. Kholdarov had some joy in round 2 but Cruz was comfortable with the pace and style of the contest. The Cuban won round 3 and even worked well inside which isn’t his natural game. The action opened up slightly in the last 2 rounds but there was no doubt of the winner with Cruz claiming the unanimous decision and putting the Domadores right back in to the contest.

In what looked a potentially explosive encounter at Middleweight (75kg) Israil Madrimov squared off against Arlen Lopez. Lopez took his time in the opening round with Madrimov moving forward and pressing the action. The Uzbek really grew in confidence in round 2 and beat the Cuban to the punch and simply outworked him. Madrimov was in full control over the next 2 rounds and although he did tire in the final stages he’d done more than enough to pull off a fantastic victory over the reigning Olympic gold Medallist whose display was lacklustre to say the least.

Finally in the Heavyweight (91kg) division Sanjar Tursunov went up against Erislandy Savon. Savon maintained distance to win the opening round and the Cuban again controlled proceedings with the jab in round 2 as Tursunov was unable to get inside. The home man had some occasional moments but wasn’t able to sustain the momentum for any prolonged period. Tursunov caught Savon with a decent shot but the Cuban, somewhat annoyed at having taken a solid punch reasserted his dominance for the rest of the 4th. Savon avoided any dramas in the last round and prevailed via unanimous decision to leave the tie beautifully poised with the Tigers 3-2 up ahead of the second leg.

The final days action from the Uzbekistan Sports Complex in Tashkent saw the other 5 gold Medals being decided and also the remaining 10 box offs with world championship places also on the line.

The action commenced with the light flyweight (49kg) box offs as Kazakhstan’s Zhomart Yerzhan was up against Indonesia’s Cornelis Kwangu Langu. Kwangu Langu began brightly but as the opening round progressed the straight punches of Zhomart drove his opponent backwards. The pair engaged in a highly entertaining second round where both scored with plenty of shots. Yerzhan came out fast to start the final stanza but Kwangu Langu responded with some cracking left hooks as a real war broke out with both boxers desperate to secure their places in Hamburg. At the final bell it was Kwangu Langu who got the split decision in what was a superb 9 minutes of non-stop action.

The other box off was contested between China’s He Junjun and Syria’s Hussin Al Masri. A good right hand from He was the most memorable action from the opening round. Al Masri struggled with his accuracy as he simply was throwing his punches from too far out therefore making it straight forward for He to counter him. The counter right hand proved to be a fruitful shot for He but it was Al Masri who claimed the unanimous decision in a rather ungainly and messy fight.

The atmosphere then reached fever pitch as local superstar Hasanboy Dusmatov took on Mongolia’s Erdeen Gan-Gankhuyag in the light flyweight final. Dusmatov’s quick hands and quick feet were on full display in round 1 but Gankhuyag had his moments when he managed to close the distance. Gankhuyag was unable to sustain any sort of momentum as the mesmeric movement and boxing skills of Dusmatov were now taking over. Not much of significance was landed in round 3 but there was no doubt of the winner as the Uzbek retained his Asian crown with the unanimous decision sparking celebrations in the crowd.

We moved to the flyweight (52kg) division and in the first box off India’s Kavinder Singh won his bout against Abdul Salam Kasim via walk over.

The other box off saw Sri Lanka’s Seneviratne Bandara up against Japan’s Ryusei Baba. Baba was completely right hand happy but it worked as he caught Bandara with the shot time after time during the first 2 rounds. A point off for not keeping his head up slightly complicated things for Baba in round 3 but the man from Japan did enough to claim the deserved split decision and book his spot at the world championships.

The gold medal bout saw Uzbek Jasurbek Latipov face Korea’s Kim Inkyu. Kim was in charge for much of the opening round, tagging his man as he came forward but Latipov managed to find his range in the last 30 seconds or so. Latipov scored with 2 excellent single shots to begin round 2 and he hit the target fairly frequently throughout the whole 3 minutes. Kim came out with aggressive intent but the final round was blighted by much holding and clinching. At the final bell it was Latipov who was declared the winner, taking Asian gold with the judges all favouring him on the cards.

Next up at light welterweight (64kg) the first box off saw Indonesia’s Saraogatua Lumbantobin face Wang Gang from China. It was Wang who booked his world championship spot in terrific style as he drilled the Indonesian with hard shots to both body and head and Lumbantobin was dumped on the canvas in the first round with the contest being rightly stopped.

The second box off saw Sri Lanka’s Dushan Saparamadu claim his place in Germany with a walk over result over Chinese Taipei’s Pan Hung-Ming.

Mongolia’s Chinzorig Baatarsukh squared off against home man Ikboljon Kholdarov in the light welterweight final. Baatarsukh came out all guns blazing and drilled Kholdarov with a crunching right hand as he seem to dominate round 1. The second round was a lot more competitive with both men landing in a cracking 3 minutes of action. Baatarsukh, knowing he needed to make it a conclusive victory chin checked Kholdarov with some hard right hands once again in round 3 with the Uzbek showing he had good whiskers to his credit. The Mongolian looked to have done more than enough to win gold however, the judges disagreed and Kholdarov won the unanimous decision, giving Uzbekistan their 7th gold medal in this tournament.

The last session began with the welterweight (69kg) box offs with Koreas Lee Seunghyeon versus Syria’s Ahmad Ghosson. Both were looking to counter in the opening round but a right hand from Lee put Ghosson down but it was ruled a slip with Lee unfortunate not to have been awarded a knockdown. Ghosson got to grips with proceedings and had an excellent round 2. 2 point deductions for careless use of the head in round 3 left Lee with an impossible task and it was Ghosson who prevailed via unanimous decision and went through to the world championships.

The other box off saw India’s Manoj Kumar face China’s Liu Wei. Kumar wanted to box from range with Liu attempting to close the distance and it was a tight opening round. Liu had some more success on the inside in round 2 but a point deduction for use of the head undid any good work he may have had. Knowing he needed a huge round Liu poured it on constantly throwing hard punches but Kumar used his left jab to great effect. Liu never stopped coming forward and a late point loss for Kumar left the fight right in the balance but it was Kumar who grabbed the split decision to guarantee his world championship birth.

The welterweight final saw Uzbek Shakhram Giyasov tackle Kazak Ablaikhan Zhussupov. It was a rapid start to the contest with both fighters letting their hands go before Giyasov put Zhussupov down with a right hand in the opening round but to his credit Zhussupov recovered well and scored with some solid southpaw lefts of his own. The pace slowed in round 2 but it was Giyasov who got home with the more telling blows. Zhussupov did his best to turn things around but it was the Uzbek who won the unanimous decision giving his country their 8th Asian gold.

The super heavyweights (91+kg) then took to the ring with Korea’s Kim Dohyeon victorious in his box off over Sri Lanka’s Duwaneka Addurakaram via walk over.
The final box off was between India’s Satish Kumar and China’s MuHaipeng. Kumar produced an outstanding performance to completely out box his opponent who was left confused and bewildered. Mu never got anything going due to Kumar’s terrific foot work and straight punches and the Indian prevailed via unanimous decision and booked his place in Germany with a stylish display.

The final bout of proceedings was the contest to decide super heavyweight gold as Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov squared off against Kazakhstan’s Kanshybek Kunkabayev. Both scored with significant punches in a closely fought opening stanza. Kunkabayev was forcing his opponent to retreat in round 2 but a point off for holding put him in a precarious position. Kunkabayev continued to pour forward but Jalolov landed some stinging left hands in the final round as both boxers felt the effects of a hard fought encounter. It was Jalolov who was victorious on points meaning Uzbekistan came away with 9 gold Medals from the championships, the most any nation has ever claimed.

A few overall thoughts from the last week’s events and as expected Uzbekistan reigned supreme with Kazakhstan not too far behind them. India continue to make great strides forward and Mongolia, China and the Philippines can be fairly satisfied with their weeks work. It was wonderful to see the encouraging signs for the future from Syria and Indonesia however, Japan will be disappointed not to have come away with any medals and Thailand had a tournament to forget with no boxers through to the world championships.

After a day of terrific semi-final action at the Uzbekistan Sports Complex in Tashkent it was on to the finals with gold Medals at stake. In addition there were box offs with the chance for the 4 losing quarter finalists to secure 2 world championship places.

The first bout was a box off at bantamweight (56kg) with Bhutan’s Nima Jordi versus Indonesia’s Simon Makarawe. In a really entertaining opening round both landed with left hooks and hard combinations. The excellent action continued in round 2 but Dorji had a point deducted for use of the head which in a close fight was a disaster. Dorji began to rapidly fade in the last round and was holding on for dear life and swinging for the fences. Makarawe, who was feeling the effects of a tough fight himself had just that bit more in the tank to secure the points win and book his spot at the world championships in Hamburg.

The second bantamweight box off saw Ryomei Tanaka of Japan face India’s Gaurav Bidhuri. Tanaka flew out of the traps and consistently landed with blistering combinations through the first round. Bidhuri managed to fight his way back in to proceedings but it proved not to be enough as Tanaka claimed the split decision and earned his world championship place in the process.

Still at bantamweight it was time to decide the gold Medallist as Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev took on China’s Zhang Jiawei. Akhmadaliev has been in frightening form during the tournament and the Uzbek totally dominated the opening round. Zhang attempted to turn things around but it was to prove a thankless task and Akhmadaliev was the better fighter in every department winning on points and becoming Asian champion.

Up at lightweight (60kg) a world championship spot was on the line as Kazakhstan’s Adilet Kurrmetov took on LaiChu-En from Chinese Taipei. Kurrmetov scored with some nice combinations towards the end of the opening round. The Kazak controlled things and won via unanimous decision to seal his place in Hamburg.

The other box off at lightweight saw Arashi Morisaka from Japan clash with Farrand Papendang from Indonesia. It was the man from Japan who came through the bout to win on points and make it 2 fighters from the land of the rising sun who will compete at the upcoming world championships.

The lightweight final was an intriguing prospect as India’s Shiva Thapa went up against Uzbek Elnur Abduraimov in a contest of 2 high quality boxers. In a keenly contested opening round where Thapa and Abduraimov scored with single shots a clash of heads which left Thapa unable to continue brought the bout to an end. Abduraimov was declared the victor on the cards but in all honesty the fighters and the public were robbed of what was shaping up to be a fantastic tussle between 2 terrific operators.

The middleweights (75kg) then took center stage with Indonesia’s Brama Betaubun vying for a world championship birth against Aziz Achilov from Turkmenistan. Achilov stamped his authority on the contest early on, forcing Betaubun to take a standing 8 count and then a crushing right hook left the Indonesian down and out with Achilov winning in devastating style.

The other box off saw Syria’s Abdul Mouen Aziz tangle with Filipino Eumir Marcial. Both were looking for openings but Marcial hurt Aziz with a cracking left hand and had it come earlier on in the round it could have been curtains for Aziz. Marcial, who was now brimming with confidence once again had Aziz on shaky legs and patiently picked his punches in a dominant second round for the Filipino. The left hand stunned Aziz at the start of the third and the Syrian had a second point docked for use of the head. Marcial could have easily went for the stoppage but he was content to coast home to a wide points win in what was a power packed display from the 21-year-old.

The middleweight final saw Lee Dongyun from Korean up against it with Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov in the other corner. Lee scored with a decent body shot but Madrimov soon opened up, letting rip with his customary explosive combinations and he looked in the mood to do some serious damage. Frustratingly a cut behind the ear opened up resulting in Madrimov being unable to continue leaving the verdict in the hands of the judges and the home man was victorious on a split decision sending the Tashkent crowd in to wild celebrations for the third time.

The second session of the day began with the light heavyweight (81kg) box offs as Shabbos Negmatulloev from Tajikistan faced Malaysia’s Hafidz Adli Mohd Pauzi. Mohd Pauzi took an absolute hammering in the opening round with Negmatulloev bullying him back to the ropes. The bombardment continued in round 2 and a warning for excessive holding followed by 2 more standing 8 counts finally brought a conclusion to what was a very one sided fight.

The other box off saw India’s Manish Panwar take on Pakistan’s Awais Ali Khan. The first round was pretty devoid of quality with more punches missing than landed. Both men enjoyed success in round 2 in what was a competitive bout. Khan caught Panwar with a big right hand at the start of the final round and unloaded on his opponent. The pair then furiously let their hands go giving it everything they had but at the final bell it was Khan who prevailed via split decision to book his place in Germany.

It was then on to the gold medal bout with local star Bektemir Melikuziev versus Yerik Alzhanov from Kazakhstan. Melikuziev showed his class in the opening stanza but Alzhanov hadn’t just come to make up the numbers and the Uzbek suffered a cut on his eye. Alzhanov continued to press forward but Melikuziev went through the gears displaying his full repertoire of skills. Despite being cut on both eyes Melikuziev continued to box superbly and the 21-year-old had clinched the Asian title winning a clear unanimous decision.

The first light heavyweight (91kg) box off was between Sanjar Tursunov of Uzbekistan and Salar Gholami of Iran. Gholami controlled the distance pretty well in round 1 with Tursunov struggling to cut off the ring for much of the 3 minutes. Things became very untidy with a lot of holding and clinching on the inside and Tursunov lost a point which left him in a tricky position. The ugly nature of the bout carried on in to round 3 with both boxers losing a point but it was Tursunov who was awarded the split decision in an incident filled contest.

The other box off saw China’s Yu Fengkai prevail by walk over versus Mehmood Sanaull of Pakistan.

The final bout of the day was between Kazakhstan’s Vassiliy Levit up against India’s Sumit Sangwan to decide who would take gold. Both landed with jabs early on but as the round progressed Levit began to take the ascendancy and forced his man backwards. Sangwan caught Levit with a nice right hand in round 2 but a right hand response came immediately from Levit. The pair exchange more jabs in round 3 but it was Levit’s greater volume of harder shots that saw him deservedly crowned Asian champion via unanimous decision.

This past week has seen the Asian Boxing Championships taking place in Tashkent at the Uzbekistan Sports Complex and today it was the semi-finals.

First up at flyweight (52kg) local man Jasurbek Latipov took on Kazakhstan’s Azamat Issakulov. Latipov was happy to fight on the back foot and wait for countering opportunities and the Uzbek landed the better shots in a foul filled encounter which saw both men docked points and Latipov won via split decision.

The second semi saw Filipino Daniel Maamo face Koreas Kim Inkyu. Kim came out all guns blazing and took the fight to Maamo who struggled to cope with the pressure and volume of his opponent. Maamo was then buzzed by a right hand at the start of round 2 but the Filipino came back in to things as the stanza progressed. Maamo came out fast at the beginning of round 3 as the pair went to war in a furious 3 minutes of action. At the final bell it was Kim who was awarded the split verdict in a highly entertaining contest.

Up at bantamweight (56kg) Olympic and world Medallist Murodjon Akhmadaliev faced Ham Younghun. Akhmadaliev, who has been in dynamic form during this tournament had his way with his Korean opponent and it really was man versus boy for the whole fight. The Uzbek pummelled Ham in round 1 and knocked him through the ropes with the Korean turning his back. The one way traffic continue before wisely Ham was pulled out in round 2.

The other semi saw Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan take on Chinas Zhang Jiawei. Both men enjoyed success in what was a close and technical opening round. It was again pretty hard to split them in round 2 with Zhang just shading proceedings with some nice jabs. There were some neat bursts of quality punches from both in round 3 as things got slightly untidy but it was Zhang who was victorious via split decision in an engaging but not pulsating bout.

Up at lightweight (60kg) Mongolia’s Otgondalai Dorjnyambuu took on India’s Shiva Thapa. Not much of significance was landed in the opening round. Thapa then picked up the pace in the next 2 rounds to grab a thoroughly deserved split decision over Dorjnyambuu in without doubt the Indians best display since moving up from bantamweight.

The second lightweight semi saw Chinas Shan Jun square off against home favourite Elnur Abduraimov. Both had put on sparkling displays in Tashkent but it was Abduraimov who prevailed via unanimous decision.

With the bout between Vikas Krishan and Lee Dongyun not taking place with the Korean winning via walk over, the other middleweight (75kg) semi-final saw Kazakhstan’s Abilkhan Amankul up against Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov. With a real contrast of styles there was much intrigue in this contest of 2 young prodigious talents but it was Madrimov who won the unanimous decision and booked his place in the final.

It was then on to the light heavyweights as Uzbek Bektemir Melikuziev took on Chinas Huang Jiabin. Huang proved to be well out of his depth as the Olympic and world silver Medallist dispatched his opponent inside a round in an authoritative manor. Turkmenistan’s Nuryagdy Nuryadyyev faced Kazakhstan’s Yerik Alzhanov in the other semi. Unfortunately an accidental clash of heads brought an early end to proceedings with Alzhanov winning a split decision on the cards.

The supreme Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan was up against Syria’s Alaa Eldin Ghoussoun in the heavyweight (91kg) category. In a pretty quiet opening round Ghoussoun suffered a cut to his right eye and was unable to continue with Levit gaining the unanimous points victory.

India’s Sumit Sangwan squared off against Jakhon Qurbonov of Tajikistan in the other semi. Sangwan peppered Qurbonov with left hands in the opening round and the Indian’s superb foot work saw him continue to dominate throughout round 2. Qurbonov had some minor success in round 3 but it was nowhere near enough and Sangwan was declared the unanimous point’s victor in what was a fabulous display and a real treat to watch.

The second session began with the light flyweights (49kg) as local hero Hasanboy Dusmatov clashed with India’s Amit Kumar. Given Dusmatov’s elite capabilities Kumar was always going to be up against it but the Indian wasn’t to be intimidated and he held his own against the reigning Olympic champion throughout. The defences of both men were extremely good which meant clean blows landed were at a premium in the first 2 rounds. Kumar landed some nice single shots in round 3 but it was the greater clusters from Dusmatov which saw him claim the unanimous decision but Kumar proved his quality and the 21-year-old looks a bright talent for the future.

The other semi was contested between Erdeen Gan-Gankhuyag from Mongolia and Rogen Ladon from the Philippines. The pair traded heavy leather in the opening round with Ladon seemingly getting the better of proceedings with some big southpaw left hands. Gankhuyag responded well in round scoring with some big right hands as neither man refused to give an inch and there were some afters at the bell. The rough and tough nature of the contest continued but the Mongolian landed with the eye catching shots in the final round to earn a split decision in a really physical encounter.

Next up it was the light welterweights (64kg) with Chinzorig Baatarsukh from Mongolia versus Nurlan Kobashev from Kirgizstan. Kobashev was the boxer on the front foot but Baatarsukh countered with ease in the first round and despite Kobashev’s further attempts at pinning his man down the Mongolian remained composed picking off his opponent with quality combinations. The fight continued in a similar pattern with Baatarsukh cruising home to a unanimous decision.

It was a clash of the youngsters as Ikboljon Kholdarov from Uzbekistan went up against Bekdaulet Ibragimov from Kazakhstan. Kholdarov was looking to maintain distance and move around the ring whilst Ibragimov wanted things at close quarters and both had success in the opening stanza. Kholdarov took charge in round 2 and was even on the front foot in a highly entertaining 3 minutes of action. The fast pace continued and it was a real war of attrition as both boxers left it all on the line. At the final bell it was Kholdarov who was awarded the win via split decision in what was an absolute pleasure to have watched.

The welterweights (69kg) then took to the ring with Shakhram Giyasov from Uzbekistan taking on Iran’s Sajjad Kazemzkdehposhtiri. Kazemzkdehposhtiri began brightly, managing to cut off the ring and land on the fleet footed Giyasov. The Iranian attempted to keep up his momentum in round 2 but Giyasov found his range and dug in but the Uzbek was deducted a point for use of the head. Kazemzkdehposhtiri landed a big right hand to start round 3 before a furious exchange took place between the pair. Giyasov then used his greater variety to take a unanimous decision in what was a tough bout for both boxers.

The other semi saw Tuvshinbat Byanba from Mongolia facing Kazakhstan’s Ablaikhan Zhussupov. Zhussupov boxed beautifully in the opening stanza, scoring with southpaw jabs and bringing the left hand in to play in the later stages of the round. Round 2 was far more competitive but clashes of heads became fairly frequent and Byamba was deducted a point leaving him with a mountain to climb. Zhussupov was then docked a point for holding and a cut on the Kazak’s eye brought a premature finish to the contest with the judge’s verdict falling in favour of Zhussupov.

Lastly it was the super heavyweights in action with Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov tackling Mohamad Mulayes. Jalolov obliterated Mulayes, hammering away with straight shots and thankfully the mismatch was stopped in the opening round.

The final bout saw Kazak Kanshybek Kunkabayev square off against Hussein Iashaish from Jordan. The first round was devoid of much action before Iashaish had a point taken off in round 2 for punches behind the head and the Jordanians problems were increased as he was deducted another point for use of the inside of the glove. Iashaish came out needing a KO but a third infringement for use of the head saw him disqualified giving Kunkabayev the victory.

It was the final round of group fixtures in season 7 of the WSB and there were still quarter-final places up for grabs in all 3 groups.

With not much other than pride at stake the China Dragons hosted the Astana Arlans at The Mangrove in Sanya.

The evening’s action kicked off at flyweight (52kg) with Zhang Guo taking on Anvar Muzaparov. Guo began extremely well, scoring with some excellent combinations to give himself an early lead. Muzaparov attempted to close the distance and turn the tied but Guo remained in control and took a deserved points win to give the Dragons a 1 nil lead.

Next up at lightweight (60kg) Wang Sen was up against Zakir Safiullin. Safiullin has been in terrific form in this season’s competition and despite a good start from Sen the Kazaks strength, experience and class saw him take over as the fight progressed and he won a split decision to even things up.

With the scores level, welterweights (69kg) Hu Richabilige and Aslanbek Shymbergenov had the chance the seas the advantage for their team. Richabilige rose to the challenge and prevailed on points in an exciting encounter.

The penultimate bout featured light heavyweights (81kg) Wang Lida and Arman Rysbek. Lida came in when a knockout reputation but he was on the end of a hammering from Rysbek who scored a KO inside a round to level things up once again.

It was now left to the super heavyweights +91kg) to decide things as Wang Zhibao faced Olzhas Bukayev. A highly entertaining contest was unfortunately halted with Zhibao suffering a cut and Bukayev was declared the winner giving the Arlans the 3-2 victory and securing their 5th win of the season as they topped the group and progressed to the quarter-finals.

It was a winner takes all clash at the Sukharev Sport Complex in Perm as the Russian Patriot Boxing Team squared off against the Uzbek Tigers with a guaranteed quarter-final place up for grabs.

First up at flyweight (52kg) Viacheslav Tashkarakov took on Abrorjon Kodirov. Tashkarakov was the man coming forward with Kodirov landing the more eye catching shots in an evenly contested first 3 rounds. The momentum continued to swing this way then that but it was Kodirov’s greater quality that earned him the unanimous point’s verdict.

Next up at lightweight (60kg) Konstantin Bogomazov clashed with Ulugbek Dusmuradov. With it being Bogomazov’s first WSB contest for some considerable time and the debut of Dusmuradov both men were cautious early on and similar to the opening contest there was little to separate the pair. Dusmuradov enjoyed an excellent last 30 seconds to pinch round 3 but Bogomazov managed to establish distance and a knockdown in round 5 sealed a unanimous decision victory for the Russian.

With scores level it was the turn of the welterweights (69kg) with Artem Zaytsev versus newcomer Odiljon Aslonov. Aslonov showed no nerves and began with intent with Zaytsev happy to wait for scoring opportunities. Zaytsev made his man miss more regularly and landed with cute counters in the process. Aslonov never stopped pressing forward and wasn’t discouraged but Zaytsev’s superior all round boxing skills and a standing 8 count in the last round gave him the unanimous points victory.
Light heavyweights (81kg) Pavel Silyagin and Madiyar Saidrakhimov then entered the ring. Silyagin was one step ahead of his debuting opponent over the first 2 rounds but the home man was wobbled in round 3 with Saidrakhimov gaining in confidence. Silyagin managed to regain control of proceedings and prevailed via split decision in a thoroughly enjoyable bout giving the Patriots an unassailable 3-1 lead.

Lastly at super heavyweight (+91kg) Artem Suslenkov faced Mirzobek Khasanov. Khasanov was the fluid and relaxed fighter with Suslenkov possibly feeling some nerves on his first WSB appearance. As the pace began to slow Suslenkov enjoyed some fleeting success but in the main Khasanov did as he pleased and the Uzbek boxed his way to a unanimous decision win to pull it back to 3-2 with both sides safely making it through to the last 8.

The quarter-final line up is as follows with the home and away fixtures to be played over the weekends of 12-13 and 19-20 May.
Cuba Domadores v Uzbek Tigers.
French Fighting Roosters v British Lionhearts.
Colombia Heroicos v Italia Thunder.
Astana Arlans v Patriot Boxing Team.