We’ve now reached the 3rd round of action in the Asian group of the World Series of Boxing and with much to play for this was a pivotal weekend with all 4 sides jostling for a spot in the quarter finals. Group leaders Astana Arlans took on the China Dragons at the Culture and Wellness Centre in Atyrau The 1st bout of the evening was at light flyweight (49kg) as Temirtas Zhussupov went up against He Junjun. The opening stages were closely contested with little to separate the pair. As the fight progressed Zhussupov engaged his opponent and forced him on to the back foot. The visitor attempted to counter but only left himself open and Zhussupov picked off his man to win a unanimous decision. Up at bantamweight (56kg) Ilyas Suleimenov faced Wang Long. Suleimenov has been in good form in the WSB and this good form continued as Wang struggled to get anything going at all throughout the contest. The Kazak dominated proceedings and won a unanimous decision leaving Wang still winless in the WSB and the Dragons facing a mountain to climb if they were to take anything away from this encounter. In the nights 3rd bout at light welterweight (64kg) Dilnurat Mizhitov had the chance to seal the points for the home side against Liu Yang. Mizhitov started the contest brightly and after 3 rounds he look to have the ascendency. 2 knockdowns in round 4 left no doubt who would be victorious and Mizhitov cruised to a unanimous decision, putting the points in the bag for the Arlans in the process. At Middleweight (75kg) Saparbay Aidarov made his WSB debut against Zhao Minggang. Aidarov looked to dictate the distance early on and managed to establish a lead. Despite the best efforts from the Chinese boxer the Kazak southpaw remained in control and earned a unanimous point’s victory to make it 4 nil to the Arlans. With not even the possibility for a point for the Dragons it was only pride to play for at heavyweight (91kg) as Anton Pinchuk faced Siarhei Novikau. Pinchuk displayed a solid temperament and a good array of skills on the road in his win in Russia in the first round of this year’s competition. Pinchuk carried on from where he left off showing excellent movement and landing with classy combinations to leave the Dragons Belarussian import in a daze. Novikau was unable to get in range often enough and Pinchuk was declared a unanimous decision winner to make it a clean sweep for the home side and barring something dramatic the Arlans will reach the play-offs and look a force to be reckoned with this season. Still looking for their first win in this season’s tournament the Uzbek Tigers badly needed the points against the Patriot Boxing Team at the Universal Sport Complex in Tashkent. To kick things off Abdulkhay Sharakhmatov squared off against Dmitrii Sharafutdinov at bantamweight (56kg). Both men enjoyed success in a tight opening stanza before Sharakhmatov stepped up the pace landing with stinging southpaw left hands and driving Sharafutdinov backwards. Despite possessing a height advantage Sharafutdinov failed to turn the tide and Sharakhmatov dominated proceedings to score a shutout on the cards and give the Uzbeks the ideal start. Attention then switched to the light welterweight (64kg) division as Elnur Abduraimov took on Radmir Abdurakhmanov. Having been unable to box against the China Dragons Abduraimov was looking for his first win of WSB 7 and landed the cleaner more memorable punches to shade a close opening round. Abdurakhmanov landed some good right hands in round 2 and there was very little to split them going in to the last round. Abduraimov showed his class to land with the decisive shots in round 5 to prevail via split decision in a gruelling and absorbing encounter. Middleweight (75kg) Israil Madrimov had the chance to sew up the points for the Tigers when he went up against Radzhab Radzhabov. Madrimov showed no nerves on his 1st WSB appearance drilling Radzhabov with explosive combinations constantly throughout the 1st 3 rounds. Radzhabov showed nowhere enough urgency and simply allowed Madrimov to do as he pleased and the debutant eased his way to a shut out on the scorecards, giving the Tigers all 3 points in the process. It was then on to the Heavyweights (91kg) as Zukhriddin Makhkamov fought Islam Tekeev. Both men came out with aggressive intent and landed plenty of power punches in the opening 3 minutes. Tekeev continued to pour forward but Makhkamov picked off his opponent showing terrific movement and punch variety. The Russian never stopped pressing and showed an incredible engine but it was the home man who got the unanimous verdict in what was a high quality affair. It was now time for Olympic gold Medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov to take to the ring with Bator Sagaluev the man in the other corner at light flyweight (49kg). Having not seen much action since Rio Dusmatov took his time early on but it wasn’t long before the supreme boxing ability that makes him one of the finest fighters in the unpaid ranks was on full display. Sagaluev, a quality operator in his own right was made to look second best and Dusmatov won every round to give the Tigers a 5 nil victory and put them right back in contention in group C. A huge thanks to Marcus Bellinger for this guest article, for those interested in following Marcus his twitter handle is @marcusknockout
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