Posts Tagged ‘World Series Boxing’

Baku Fires Still Unbeaten after 7 Weeks

By WSB

There was little change in the team standings at the end of the week seven matches in the World Series of Boxing, as the leading teams continued to dominate. But a few surprises in the individual bouts caused plenty of movement in the individual standings that will determine which boxers go through to the individual championships, which offer a quote place for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
With 5-0 wins in each of the team’s first two meetings, the Mexico City Guerreros were hoping for more of the same as the two teams dueled at the DeSoto Civic Center on Thursday, but the Force showed a resolve that had been missing in five of their first six contests, leaving a close split decision in the light heavyweight to decide the match and hand the Guerreros a 3-2 victory.

The deciding bout of the evening took place in the light heavyweight division featuring Javier Ortega, and Tony Mack of the Memphis Force. Ortega got the better of Mack, scoring a split-decision victory by the narrowest of margins, 48-47, 47-48, 49-48, to put the Guerreros up for good 3-1. Ortega’s win moved him up the WSB rankings to fourth, while Mack was left with a 0-2 record.

Heavyweight Javonta Charles got to fight in front of his hometown fans, friends and family in his third WSB bout and took advantage of that momentum to break into the win column for the first time in his young WSB career. Facing Alex Rivera, who came into the battle already fatigued with an illness, Charles wouldn’t let up throughout the bout. By the fifth round, Rivera had decided he had had enough and didn’t come out of the corner, giving Charles the TKO victory.

Hollywood Fight Night turned into another Los Angeles Matador exhibition on Sunday as the league-leading team showcased their superiority over the competition yet again and secured a 5-0 win against the visiting Miami Gallos.

The Matadors, competing in their new home at the Avalon Hollywood , move to 6-1 on the year and gain another three points in the overall standing for a total of 19, six ahead of their nearest competitor the Mexico City Guerreros. Miami fall to 3-4 overall with nine points. The Gallos have now dropped two in a row to the Matadors after defeating them on November 23 in each team’s season opener.

The Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Shabranskij put together perhaps the upset of the inaugural WSB season by defeating 2008 Olympic silver medalist Kenny Egan in the light heavyweight contest. Egan had been inactive since a cut to his eye in his opening bout and took a while to get his ring rhythm back again, which allowed Shabranskij to build up a good lead after two rounds, leading to the split-decision victory, 48-47, 46-49, 49-46. Shabranskij has been impressive with three wins and no losses to date, good enough to move him into third in WSB standings.
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder became the first team to inflict a home defeat on Paris United on Friday as they took a crucial 3-2 away victory at the Halle Carpentier.

Milano Thunder’s night started well as Vittorio Parrinello scored a close victory over number one ranked bantamweight John Joe Nevin. A mighty punch thrown by Nevin to Parrinello’s head in the third round motivated the Italian, who managed to win on a split decision: 47-48, 48-47, 47-48. John Joe Nevin was disappointed: “Even if I didn’t box at my best, I thought I did enough to win. The Olympics remains my main goal and I will reach it anyway,” he said. The defeat drops Nevin from first to sixth in the individual rankings.

Ludovic Groguhe remains top in the light heavyweight rankings after an impressive performance against Milano Thunder’s new signing Thomas Edward McCarthy. The Frenchman appeared stronger from the outset and the bout was stopped in the last round due to an injury to McCarthy, handing Groguhe a clear victory with a unanimous 50-45, 50-45, 50-44 score card.

With the teams tied at 2-2 going into the heavyweight contest, the last bout of the night was the decider. Tony Yoka once again faced Olympic silver medallist Clemente Russo, who defended well thanks to faster foot work. For the third time of the night the battle was stopped in the last round after Russo sustained a cut above the left eye. The Italian won on a split decision: 47-48, 47-48, 48-47. “I don’t think I deserved to lose this fight” said Yoka afterwards. “I was better than last time, I think I did rather well”. The 3-2 victory allowed Milano Thunder to move within one point of Paris United in the team standings for Europe.

The Istanbulls took a 4-1 home victory against the Moscow Kremlin Bears on Friday night. New signing Sukhrab Shidaev was the only boxer to win for Moscow, with a unanimous decision against Onur Sipal in the middleweight contest.

Mehmet Topcakan extended his record to 3-0 at bantamweight, while new signing David Oliver Joyce opened with a victory over Adlan Abdurashidov in the lightweight contest. Germany’s Enrico Kolling also moved to 3-0 for the season after beating Zhavlonbek Usmanov by unanimous decision. The win moves Kolling up to third place in the individual boxer standings.

Heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui improved to 2-1 with a unanimous decision over the new Moscow signing Arslanbek Makhmudov. The victory leaves the Istanbulls trailing Milano Thunder by five points in the hotly contested European conference.

Baku Fires remain the only unbeaten team in the WSB after once again beating the Beijing Dragons away on Saturday. But the victory was far from easy pickings as the teams were tied 2-2 going into the final heavyweight contest.

Luo Shaofang avenged his loss to Magomed Abdulhamidov in week one of the tournament by becoming the first boxer to beat the Azeri this season. Luo connected more often with strong punches, which the judges reflected with a unanimous 48-46, 49-45, 49-45 in his favor.

Baku Fires equaled the scores in the lightweight contest after Fang Lei admitted he was not satisfied with his performance against Ramal Amanov, in another repeat of the team’s opening match.

Liu Wei defeated Mahamed Nurudzinau of the Baku Fires with a unanimous decision on points. He had previously lost to Olympic Champion Bakhyt Sarsekbayev in week two. “He (Bakhyt) is a very experienced boxer. But I’m young and improving my status over every fight. I know I didn’t look too impressive, but a win is a win,” he modestly confided after the match.

Ramazan Magomedov brought Baku level again by beating Faye Assane in the light heavyweight contest. His new team mate Abdulkadir Abdullayev then quickly sealed the match for the Baku Fires with a second round TKO against Cheng Xiangyang in the heavyweight match-up. The undefeated Baku Fires are five points clear of their nearest rival, Astana Arlans, in the Asian conference and are statistically the best team overall.
The Astana Arlans maintain a slender lead over Milano Thunder as the best second-placed team overall after a 3-2 win against the Pohang Poseidons in Korea on Saturday.

Things started badly for the Poseidons on their first home match in a new venue, as the Arlans quickly opened up a 3-0 lead to seal the match after the first three bouts.

The Poseidons responded with wins for Abdelhafid Benchabla from Algeria in the light heavyweight bout, who is ranked second and remains in contention for a place in the individual championships, and his compatriot Chouaib Bouloudinats, who salvaged a valuable point for the Poseidons with a close win on points against Milutin Stankovic 48-47, 49-46, 48-47.

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By WSB

January, 29 - 2011

Paris United lost 3-2 at the Halle Carpentier against Milano Thunder on Friday night. This was the first home loss for the French team, which nevertheless remains top of the European conference.

The bantamweight contest opposed Paris United’s John Joe Nevin to Vittorio Parrinello of Milano Thunder. The Italian first appeared faster but when the Irishman decided to speed up, he did connect with Parrinello’s nose several times. The bout remained tight, however, and the first big moment came in the middle of the third round with a mighty punch thrown by John Nevin to his rival’s head. This motivated the Italian, who finally managed to win on a split decision : 47-48, 48-47, 47-48. John Joe Nevin lost for the first time and appeared very disappointed afterwards. “Even if I didn’t box at my best, I thought I did enough to win tonight. The Olympics remains my main goal and I will reach it anyway,” he said.

Rachid Azzedine of Paris United met Enkhzorig Zorigtbaatar of Milano Thunder in the second battle of the night. Mongolia’s Zorigtbaatar was looking for revenge after losing to Azzedine two weeks ago. He came out very aggressively but Rachid Azzedine enjoyed massive support from the home crowd and jumped ahead, avoiding most of his opponent’s punches. Despite his height disadvantage the Frenchman remained unbeaten in the WSB thanks to this win on unanimous decision.

The middleweight contest saw Michel Tavares of Paris United fighting against Ukrainian Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The French boxer benefited from tremendous support from the crowd. Both contestants started with a slow rhythm as they appeared to fear each other. As the time passed, Derevyanchenko surprised Tavares with his his up-tempo pace. The Frenchman had to admit the superiority of his rival. Though the battle had to be stopped due to an injury for the Ukrainian, Tavares lost on a split decision : 28-29, 28-29, 29-28.

France’s Ludovic Groguhe encountered Milano Thunder’s new signing Thomas Edward McCarthy in the light heavyweight contest. The Frenchman appeared stronger from the outset, but never managed to be precise enough. However his opponent did not really endanger him. The bout was stopped in the last round due to an injury to McCarthy. Ludovic Groguhe improved his record to 4-0 in the WSB.

The last battle of the night was therefore decisive. Tony Yoka met Clemente Russo in the heavyweight contest. Two weeks ago, the Italian beat Yoka and this explains why the Frenchman appeared very aggressive. But Russo defended well, thanks to faster foot work. Yoka seemed extremely motivated and the fight was surprisingly tight. But for the third time of the night the battle was stopped in the last round because of a cut Russo sustained above the left eye. The Italian won on a split decision however : 47-48, 47-48, 48-47. “I don’t think I deserved to lose this fight” said Yoka afterwards. “I was better than last time, I think I did rather well”. Still, Paris lost 3-2 and their advantage over second-placed Milano Thunder in the European conference is reduced to a single point.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) The Los Angeles Matadors will showcase their new home at the Avalon Hollywood Sunday night as they put their league-best record on the line against the Miami Gallos as the World Series of Boxing (WSB) continues on in its seventh week. Dubbed “Hollywood Fight Night,” this has the potential to be a really exciting fight card with a stacked LA Matadors squad looking to cement their dominance in WSB Americas thus far, while the Gallos will be scrapping to stay in contention and erase the memories of a 5-0 defeat they suffered on Jan. 13 at the hand of the Matadors. The teams are 1-1 against one another having each won their home contests. The Gallos defeated the Matadors by a slim 3-2 margin back on November 23 in each team’s season debut..

All five Matador boxers competing Sunday are ranked in the top-eight of the WSB rankings, a first for WSB Americas and includes the return of two undefeated boxers in Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Eric Fowler (Houston, Texas) from medical suspensions. Warren is ranked No. 7 with his 2-0 record thus far while Fowler is ranked No. 5 with his 2-0 record, both by TKOs. Both Warren and Fowler received head butts during their last bouts and had been inactive since Dec. 12 (Fowler) and Dec. 16 (Warren). Other ranked Matador boxers include Russell Lamour (No. 3/Portland, Maine), Vyacheslav Shabranskij (No. 5/Kiev, Ukraine) and David Imoesiri (No. 8/Long Beach, Calif.).

Miami Gallos fighter John Joe Joyce (St. Michaels Athy, Ireland) didn’t have to wait long before a middleweight rematch with Lamour in hopes of trying to erase the unfriendly WSB welcome he received last time the two met January 13. Lamour wound up winning all five rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards and eased to a 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 win. Stepping into the ring against Lamour, Joyce had just arrived stateside, meeting up with the Gallos on site in Los Angeles. Joyce, a 2008 Olympian, now has two weeks of training under his belt with Gallos head coach Pat Burns while Lamour continues to showcase why he’s one of the top surprises thus far in the WSB.

It’s been two months since we’ve seen Irishmen Kenny Egan (Clondalkin, Ireland) in the ring against a WSB opponent following a cut he suffered in his opening bout against LA Matador Dorian Anthony. Egan, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist, was to lace the gloves up during the January 13 show but the Matadors were without a light heavyweight at the time. Egan will square off against another talented light heavyweight in Vyacheslav Shabranskij (Kiev, Ukraine) who will fight his first non-Mexico City Guerrero opponent in Egan.

Warren, a two-time Olympian, will take on Luis Miguel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) in the bantamweight division. At 0-2, Diaz is still looking for his first win in the WSB. Fowler will face off against Leonid Malkov (Kiev, Ukraine), who is 1-1 and coming off a TKO of his own against Elian Dimitrov of the Memphis Force.

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Top Boxers Give Their Thoughts on First Half of the WSB Season

By WSB

Saturday, 22 January 2024 - Switzerland, Lausanne

With half of the 2010-2011 regular season gone, team tactics start to take on even greater importance and the top boxers start to consider the prospect of qualification for the Olympic Games through the Individual Championships.

We spoke to four of the top boxers across the five weight categories:

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Bantamweight

Ireland’s John Joe Nevin stands atop the bantamweight rankings ahead of Paris United team-mate Nordine Oubaali thanks to a greater number of away wins. Nevin got his season off to a good start with an important away win over Vincenzo Picardi of Paris United’s main rivals, Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder.

“After this win I knew I was on the right path,” he said, “I started well and I felt more confident.”

He followed up with another win on points over Selcuk Eker of the Istanbulls in week 3 and a home victory over the Thunder’s Vitaliy Volkov in week 6.

“It feels great,” he says, “but it is only half season. I am glad to be on the top but I know there is 6 weeks of competition left.”

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Lightweight

Everton Dos Santos Lopes from Brazil tops the lightweight rankings. The Los Angeles Matador boxer is happy with this and with the WSB in general:

“It feels great. It is a very important moment for me and my family. WSB is very different from what I did so far in boxing. I love the training. There is much more physical preparation, fitness, running, sparring. We need to be in excellent form to be prepared for each match. We train a lot and this is why I love it - I want to learn more and more.”

Lopes is tied on wins with Yerzhan Mussafirov of the Baku Fires but has a five-point advantage over his Asian rival.

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Light heavyweight

Ludovic Groguhe is the second boxer from Paris United to top the individual rankings. However, he is more interested in the team’s progress than his personal career: “The biggest challenge is to become World WSB Champion in the best team. I hope that we will participate in the play-off with my friends of Paris United.”

Groguhe has a 3-0 record with two away wins and has a three-point lead over Beijing Olympian Abdelhafid Benchabla of the Pohang Poseidons. He enjoyed his last victory in Paris in front of the home fans but claims his worst moment of the competition so far was a momentary lapse of concentration in the opening seconds against Sergiy Lapin of the Istanbulls. But the lapse was indeed only momentary, since in Groguhe’s own words, “I awoke and won by TKO in the second round.”

“Nikolajs Grisunins from Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder was my toughest opponent,” he continues. “I won in the last seconds of an incredible fight.”

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Heavyweight

Magomedrasul Medzhidov of the Baku Fires has a commanding lead in the heavyweight rankings, 66 points ahead of Olympic silver medalist Clemente Russo of the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder.

The position is natural for the 24-year-old Azeri, who is one of only four boxers to floor his opponent in the first half of the season. “It feels right,” he says, “and at the same time hard, because I’ll have to always show better results. I’ve always strived to be 1st.”

“The matches had their ups and downs, I remember only the best moments - my winning moments. WSB has been an opportunity, a step towards my dream. ”

Mezhidov sees tough opponents and good coaches in the other teams in the Asian conference, but despite this does not consider the WSB to pose any challenges: “For me at WSB there are no challenges, just opportunities. The only thing is a good chance to go and fight for your dream.”

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At the half-way point in the 2010-2011 World Series of Boxing season, Paris United remain at the top of the European conference after a 4-1 home win against second-placed Milano Thunder on Friday night.

By WSB

Sunday 16^th January.

Milan’s loss was compounded by the Astana Arlans taking over as the best second-placed team after a 5-0 home win over the Incheon Red Wings on Saturday night. The top team in each conference, plus the best second-placed team go through to the play-offs in April.

Backed by some 2000 fans, unbeaten Irishman John Joseph Nevin opened proceedings for the home team at the Halle Carpentier against Ukrainian Vitaliy Volkov. Nevin started aggressively and built up a lead to win by unanimous decision and top the individual standings at bantamweight, ahead of team-mate Nordine Oubaali.

Ludovic Groguhe also climbed to the top of the individual standings after making short work of his light heavyweight contest against 20-year-old Entoni Juric. Two rounds were enough for the Croatian as Groguhe won by technical knock-out. “This was important to score 4 points at least,” said Brahim Asloum after the fight. “Now we are on top of the Conference, and this smells good for the future”.

With an easy 4-1 victory over the Miami Gallos Thursday night, the Los Angeles Matadors stayed top of the American conference standings after the first half of the season.

With 1984 Olympian Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield sitting ringside at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the Matadors once again dominated the competition, with the team’s lone blemish coming by way of walkover when they were unable to field a boxer at light heavyweight due to injury.

“The Matadors are my home team,” exclaimed Holyfield. “I love these guys and they fight with a lot of heart.”

“These guys fight a lot faster than the pros. Most U.S. fighters fight a slower style when they fight internationally so they get beat. Now that the U.S. has the World Series of Boxing, I’m sure we’ll win a lot of medals because this is giving us an opportunity to fight international opponents.”

Russell Lamour provided a rude welcoming to WSB newcomer John Joe Joyce from Ireland in the middleweight division. Joyce arrived in the States earlier in the week and was given a matchup with one of the WSB’s hottest boxers as Lamour dominated Joyce throughout and improved to 3-0 on the year, putting him third in the individual standings.

“Getting to 3-0 feels good,” said Lamour after the fight. “Each win makes me feel closer to getting to the Olympics. That’s the goal and we’re going to get there.”

The two teams won’t have to wait long for a rematch with both squads set to face each other next time out, but this time in Miami on January 27 where the Gallos have yet to lose in three matches.

The Mexico City Guerreros once again overwhelmed the Memphis Force with a 5-0 win in Southaven on Saturday night. The Guerreros, behind three WSB newcomers, earned their first road victory of the season to move to a respectable 3-3 on the year and back into second place behind the front-running Los Angeles Matadors. Josip Duric (Zagreb, Croatia) of the Guerreros defeated Chris Jones (Dallas, Texas) of the Force in his WSB debut at middleweight, dropping Jones to 0-3 on the season. After losing the first round to Jones and settling in to the new format of the WSB, Duric wouldn’t lose another round the rest of the way and scored a unanimous decision over Jones, 49-45, 49-45, 49-45. A big 10-8 decision among among all three judges in the fourth round proved to be the deciding factor.

Sweden’s Kenney Katende, who made his debut for the Guerreros as the only representative from Scandinavia in the WSB, opened with a win against Hungary’s Imre Szello. The Swedish Olympian Katende got the better of the Hungarian Olympian Szello in a unanimous decision, 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.

Jose Payares from Venezuela won out for the Guerreros in the battle of heavyweights. Payares, a 2008 Olympian, handed Cam Thompson a decisive unanimous decision loss by winning every round on all three judge’s score cards, 50-45, 50-45, 48-47.

Alisher Mahmudov got things off to a bad start for the Moscow Kremlin Bears in Istanbul on Friday night, picking up three warnings and hence a disqualification in the bantamweight bout. A knock-out for the home team’s Onur Sipal put the Istanbulls ahead in the middleweight contest and a walkover for the home team in the heavyweight bout handed them a 3-2 victory.

The Baku Fires remain overall WSB leaders after a 3-2 victory over the Beijing Dragons on Saturday night. A win for Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar on his debut opened the scoring for Baku and the two Azeri boxers in action each won their bouts to secure the victory, with Soltan Migitinov enjoying his second consecutive technical knock-out.

Newcomer Slam Kanat impressed for the Astana Arlans in the middleweight bout at home to the Incheon Red Wings on Saturday night. The naturalized Kazakh knocked out Andranik Hakobyan in the first round. Wins on points for the rest of the team produced a clean sweep of 5-0 for the Arlans and moved them up to the position of best second-placed team overall and therefore in position to qualify for the team championships.

WSB action resumes with match weekend seven from January 27.

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The World Series of Boxing (WSB) officially reached the halfway point of the league’s inaugural season Saturday with the Mexico City Guerreros once again overwhelming the Memphis Force with a 5-0 win.

The Guerreros, behind three WSB newcomers, earned their first road victory of the season to move to a respectable 3-3 on the year and back into second place behind the front-running Los Angeles Matadors in WSB Americas action. The Guerreros had a similar start to the season against the Force with a 5-0 victory as well in Mexico City, November 19. Meanwhile, the Memphis Force fall to 1-5 on the year and continue to struggle having dropped four matches in a row.

Braulio Avila (Tiaxcala, Mexico) got the evening started for the Guerreros with a unanimous decision over Detelin Dalakiev (Pleven, Bulgaria) of the Memphis Force in the bantamweight/119 pounds/54kg weight class to run his record to 2-1 on the year. Dalakiev, the 2009 World Champion, is struggling in WSB action, going 1-2 in his first three bouts and loss in a unanimous decision to Avila, 49-46, 49-46, 50-45.

Josip Duric (Zagreb, Croatia) of the Guerreros defeated Chris Jones (Dallas, Texas) of the Force in his WSB debut at middleweight/161 pounds/73 kg, dropping Jones to 0-3 on the season. After losing the first round to Jones and settling in to the new format of the WSB, Duric wouldn’t lose another round the rest of the way and scored a unanimous decision over Jones, 49-45, 49-45, 49-45. A big 10-8 decision among among all three judges in the fourth round proved to be the deciding factor.

Imre Szello (Cegled, Hungary) was impressive in his first WSB bout back on November 26 and through the first round tonight, but couldn’t find the same result the last four rounds against Kennedy Katende (Sundsvall, Sweden), another new addition to the WSB field. The Swedish Olympian Katende got the better of the Hungarian Olympian Szello in a unanimous decision, 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.

The results were similar for Force boxer Cam Thompson (Uniondale, N.Y.) who was equally impressive his first time out as a WSB boxer, but was dealt a similar fate as Szello Saturday in his matchup with Jose Payares (Caracas, Venezuela) in the battle of heavyweights. Payares, a 2008 Olympian, handed Thompson a decisive unanimous decision loss by winning every round on all three judge’s score cards, 50-45, 50-45, 48-47.

There was no bout in the lightweight/61 kg division as the Memphis Force were unable to field a boxer in that weight class. Both lightweight boxers the Force have are currently serving medical suspensions including Raynell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) and Yahman Phelps (Cincinnati, Ohio). MC Guerrero Angel Gutierrez (Queretaro, Mexico) will receive the walkover in the weight class given he makes weight on Friday.

WSB Americas action resumes January 27 featuring rematches from week six as the Force will again entertain the Guerreros while the LA Matadors (5-1) host the Miami Gallos (3-3) all on the same night.

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Paris United defeat Milano Thunder with a 4 – 1 score.

By WSB

Saturday, 15 January 2024 - Switzerland, Lausanne

Who can beat Paris United in the Halle Carpentier ? Milano Thunder could not solve this question tonight as it was defeated by the homers 4-1. Paris United increases its leadership on top of Europe Conference.

The first fight opposed the unbeaten Irish of Paris United, John Joseph Nevin to Ukraine fighter of Milano Thunder, Vitaliy Volkov. As soon as the opening bell rang Nevin appeared very aggressive, throwing several powerful jabs to Volkov’s body. However the offensive style of the Irish exposed him to fast counter attacks. Hopefully for the French team, the Ukrainian often forgot to keep his guard up as well, and it was easy for Nevin to punch his face several times. That led him to victory by unanimous decision.

In the second fight, Rachid Azzedine appeared a little tired. During the very beginning of the battle, he only observed his opponent, Ekhzorig Zorigtbaator. But in the middle of the first round, the French fighter decided to become more offensive and throw two mighty punches to the chest and body of his opponent. Rachid was very focused and careful tonight « It was hard, he declared afterwards, he is taller than me and I’m not used to this kind of boxing. Moreover I felt very tired at the end ». Still, this could not prevent Azzedine’s third victory in the World Series of Boxing, improving his record to 3-0. « I need to take away victories now in order to gain more points ».

As Paris led 2-0, a newcomers fight started. France Michel Tavares against Italia Diego Di Luisa.In front of 1850 fans, the French fighter could not lost. And he did not. After hard first minutes, Tavares released his first punch. But what a punch! The Halle Carpentier kept silence for a second under its shock. Then Michel increased his domination, and performed his best skills. Despite his lack of experience (he is only 21), Michel Tavares was better in every area. He even impressed the crowd with his style, made of quick punches, and nice provocations. Diego Di Luisa could not make it. Tavares won by unanimous decision.

The fourth bout is the shortest one. Why ? Because Ludovic Groguhe was hot tonight. French contestant overwhelmed his opponent ever since the beginning of the fight and won by Technical Knock-out. The poor Entoni Juric (20 years-old) could not compete with Groguhe. Two rounds were too much for the inexperienced Croatian. Paris led 4-0 at this time. As in the two first home battles, Paris United didn’t let a chance to the visitors. « This was important to score 4 points at least, said Brahim Asloum after the fight. Now we are on top of the Conference, and this smells good for the future ».

The last bout was not useless however. We could see the young Tony Yoka, against Clemente Russo. The Italian took the victory, which is not a surprise given his great experience. He started the battle with a lot of authority. Indeed he managed to touch Yoka every time, while avoiding the first attempts of the French contestant. Even if Yoka showed good skills, he was definitely too young to defeat Russo.

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By Bernard O’Neill

Saturday, January 15

Irish bantamweight champion John Joe Nevin beat Vitaliy Volkov of the Ukraine on a unanimous decision to help his Paris United team go top of the World Series of Boxing European table with a win over Milan in Paris tonight.

United won the clash 4-1 are are now three points clear at the top of the table after six matches of the 12 match season.

This evening’s win over Volkov of Milan, nicknamed Milano Thunder, was Nevin’s third victory in the trot in the WSB.

The Cavan BC club-man, who is signed to a three-year contract with United, admitted that tonight’s duel in the French capital was his toughest yet.

“We stood toe-to-toe and fought it out and fair play to him he caught me with some cracking body shots. The bell saved him from going down in the third and I nearly had him down again in the fifth, said Nevin.

“I knew that this one was always going to be a tough one as that’s the way it turned out. I’m delighted with my performance and to remain unbeaten.”

Paris will meet Milan at home again in their next match on January 28th.

The winners of the Asian, Americas and European groups plus the best runner up qualify for the WSB semi-finals in April.

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Holyfield Praises Home Team LA Matadors After 4-1 Win Over Miami Gallos

By WSB

14 January 2024

With an easy 4-1 victory over the Miami Gallos Thursday night, the Los Angeles Matadors proved they are indeed the real deal in the inaugural season of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) and the only thing that might stand in their way the last half of the season might just be themselves.

With 1984 Olympian Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield sitting ringside at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the Matadors once again dominated the competition, with the team’s lone blemish coming by way of walkover when they were unable to field a boxer at light heavyweight due to injury.

“The Matadors are my home team,” exclaimed Holyfield. “I love these guys and they fight with a lot of heart.”

So it has been for the Matadors through the first six weeks of the season having run up 23 wins to only seven defeats on the year. Three of the seven losses have come when the Matadors, due to injury or medical suspensions, have been unable to field a boxer at a certain weight class, something that’s happened in each of the last three matches. Despite that, the Matadors have earned 4-1 victories in each of those contests.

Commenting on the action he saw as the league’s two best teams dueled, Holyfield said: “These guys fight a lot faster than the pros. Most U.S. fighters fight a slower style when they fight internationally so they get beat. Now that the U.S. has the World Series of Boxing, I’m sure we’ll win a lot of medals because this is giving us an opportunity to fight international opponents.”

The first bout of the evening saw the first WSB Americas rematch of the season as Fernando Martinez (Buenos Aires, Argentina) of the LA Matadors and Jose Luis Meza Ochoa (Zamora, Ecuador) met for the second time. Once again, it was Martinez picking up the unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to move to 3-0 on the season and improving upon his current No. 6 WSB ranking. Ochoa now drops to 1-2 on the year.

At lightweight, Jose Saenz (Kansas City, Mo.) of the Matadors made his WSB debut a success with a split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) over Adrian Martinez (Milwaukee, Wis.) of the Gallos. Martinez drops to 2-0 on the year.

Russell Lamour (Portland, Ore.) provided a rude welcoming to WSB newcomer John Joe Joyce (Kildare, Ireland) in the middleweight division. Joyce arrived in the States earlier this week and was given a matchup with one of the WSB’s hottest boxers as Lamour dominated Joyce throughout and improved to 3-0 on the year assuring that Lamour will climb the standings up from his No. 5 WSB ranking. The final score was 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.

“Getting to 3-0 feels good,” said Lamour after the fight. “Each win makes me feel closer to getting to the Olympics. That’s the goal and we’re going to get there.”

Ireland’s Kenny Egan was set to return to the ring after a medical suspension but was instead left with a walkover in his light heavyweight bout after the Matadors’ Dorian Anthony withdrew throught injury.

Heavyweight Javier Torres (Pico Rivera, Calif.) of the Matadors rebounded from a disappointing last fight to capture the win over Craig Lewis (Detroit, Mich.) of the Gallos. Known for his brawling, relentless style in the ring, Torres tried a new strategy tonight as the young, promising heavyweight continues to grow.

“I used to just go for broke and try to bulldoze guys,” Torres said. “But I wanted to fight a little different tonight and show that I could box and punch. I stuck to the gameplan and it worked. He was a lot slower than me so I just did what I had to do to get the win. I used my patience and my distance. I was a lot smarter in this fight and my corner was a big help.”

The LA Matadors (5-1) sit atop the entire WSB at the end of the night with 16 points, while the Baku Fires (5-0), with 15 points, must keep pace in their upcoming match with the Beijing Dragons Saturday in Baku. Each league winner as well as one second-place team advance to the playoffs of the World Series of Boxing which will take place at the conclusion of the regular season that ends March 18. The Miami Gallos meanwhile drop to 3-3 on the season with nine league points overall. The team has won 13 bouts to 17 losses.

The two teams won’t have to wait long for a rematch with both squads set to face each other next time out, but this time in Miami on January 27 where the Gallos have yet to lose in three matches.

Week six also features the Mexico City Guerreros (2-3) traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Memphis Force (1-4). The Force are looking to erase a three-match losing streak having not won since Nov. 26 while the Guerreros will look to rebound from the 4-1 loss they suffered last week at home. Those two will duel on Saturday, January 15 and a more in-depth preview will be released Friday for that event.

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Ireland’s John Joe Joyce Joins “Miami Gallos”

By WSB

10 January 2024

Beijing Olympian John Joe Joyce flies out to the US today to join team-mate Ken Egan at the Miami Gallos. The European bronze medalist has signed a contract with the team coached by Pat Burns.

Irish champion Joyce could be competing alongside Egan, who is due to return after a 45-day medical suspension, as early as Thursday’s away match against the Los Angeles Matadors. Joyce will compete in the WSB’s middleweight division at 73 kilos.

The 23 year-old St Michael’s Athy welterweight is one of two Irish boxers who have been approached by the 12 World Series of Boxing teams over the past few weeks. Belfast middleweight Eamon O’Kane travelled to Milan last Friday for trials with the second ranked European side, Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder.

With John Joe Nevin competing for Paris United in Europe, this brings the total number of Irish boxers in the WSB to four. Nevin is currently ranked third in the World Series of Boxing’s individual rankings at bantamweight.

The top two boxers in each of the five WSB weight divisions at the end of the regular season will meet in the Individual Championships and the winner will qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

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