It was a crunch clash at the Martial Arts Palace in Kazan as the Patriot Boxing Team hosted the China Dragons with both sides needing a win to keep their quarter final chances alive.
The evening’s action began at light flyweight (49kg) with Tamir Galanov up against He Junjun. Both men were determined to get their respective teams off to a winning start which lead to plenty of great action during the 5 rounds. Junjun continued to put pressure on his Russian opponent but Galanov’s greater accuracy was enough to earn him a hard-fought unanimous decision victory and give the Patriots a 1 nil lead. Attention then switched to the bantamweights (56kg) with Bakhtovar Nazirov facing Wang Long. Nazirov asserted his authority on the contest from the start and never let up to record a unanimous points win to leave Wang still looking for his first WSB victory and also put the home side 2 nil up. The third bout was at light welterweight (64kg) with Aleksei Mazur versus Meng Caicheng. Knowing that the Dragons needed a win to stay afloat in the contest Caicheng made a strong start and was quicker to the punch in the early stages. Mazur, who was making his WSB debut managed to work his way in to the contest and he gained in confidence as the fight went on. Mazur eventually took a very close split decision to secure all 3 points for the Patriot Boxing Team. Up at Middleweight (75kg) it was the turn of Petr Khamukov and Zhao Minggang. Khamukov proved to be the superior fighter and the Russian coasted to a unanimous decision win to make it 4 nil. Last up it was the return of Heavyweight (91kg) Rio gold Medallist Evgeny Tishchenko who took on Guo Jin. Tishchenko was assured throughout and defensively sound, giving Jin very few opportunities to get off with his own punches and Tishchenko eased his way to a unanimous point’s victory to make it a whitewash to the Patriots. It was the battle of the giants at the Universal Sport Complex in Tashkent as the Uzbek Tigers hosted group C leaders the Astana Arlans. Opening up proceedings at light welterweight (64kg) were Elnur Abduraimov and Dilnurat Mizhitov. Both men came out with a positive intent and the first 2 rounds were keenly contested. The pair continued to trade big shots but as the bout wore on it was the slightly better movement and sharp left hands of Abduraimov that proved to be decisive as the Uzbek southpaw claimed a unanimous decision to give his side the early advantage. Next up at bantamweight (56kg) Abdulkhay Sharakhmatov squared off against Ilyas Suleimenov. Both men had been in cracking form in this season’s competition and an intriguing contest was expected. Sharakhmatov started brightly but Suleimenov began to time his man as he was coming forward. Sharakhmatov then managed to cut off the ring and find his range and despite being cut he turned things around to win a unanimous decision to extend the Tigers lead to 2 nil. The third bout was a battle of the WSB unbeatens at middleweight (75kg) with Israil Madrimov up against Saparbay Aidarov. Madrimov was quick out the traps, letting rip with the explosive combinations which made him stand out on his WSB debut. After Aidarov enjoyed an excellent round 2 Madrimov regained control with the visitor struggling to contain the marauding attacks of the Uzbek. The pace slowed in the final 2 rounds but it was the faster hands of Madrimov that won him the contest via unanimous decision and all 3 points were now in the bag for the Tigers. The heavyweights (91kg) were up next as Zukhriddin Makhkamov faced Anton Pinchuk. Makhkamov was consistently looking to land with the big right hand but Pinchuk managed to avoid the majority of them. Pinchuk then opened up as the fight progressed and it was the superior movement and classier shots from the Kazak that gave him a deserved unanimous decision victory in a rather scrappy encounter. Finally at light flyweight (49kg) Olympic gold Medallist from Rio Hasanboy Dusmatov took on Temirtas Zhussupov. Dusmatov was made to miss quite a lot in the opening stanza with Zhussupov offering very few openings. After a tactical second round Dusmatov began to land with more regularity and at the final bell of what had been a cagy affair it was Dusmatov who prevailed on points to make it 4-1 to the home side. The final round of fixtures see the China Dragons host the Astana Arlans and the Patriot Boxing Team are at home to the Uzbek Tigers in a winner takes all match for a guaranteed quarter final spot.
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