Posts Tagged ‘WSB News’

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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Mexico City Guerreros Climb Above .500 with 3-2 Win Over Memphis Force

By WSB

Friday, 28 January 2024 - United States, Memphis

With a 3-2 win Thursday night, it is safe to say that the Mexico City Guerreros might just have the Memphis Force’s number in inaugural season of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) as they once again went on the road and grabbed the victory.

With 5-0 wins in each of the team’s first two meetings, the Guerreros were hoping for more of the same as the two teams dueled at the DeSoto Civic Center, but tonight the Force exhibited a fight that had been missing in five of their first six contests. But a close split decision victory in the light heavyweight decision would decide each team’s fate in the end.

The Guerreros move to 4-3 on the season in the league standings as they continue their pursuit of the front-running Los Angeles Matadors (5-1) who will be on display against the Miami Gallos Sunday night in Los Angeles. Memphis drops to 1-6 on the year and have dropped five straight since their lone league win, November 26. The top WSB Americas team automatically advances to the WSB playoffs set for April.

Elias Emigdio (Zitlala, Mexico) got things started for the Guerreros with a 49-46, 48-47, 49-46 unanimous decision over Ronny Beblik (Chemnitz, Germany) in the bantamweight clash. With the win, Emigdio moves to 1-1 on the year while Beblik falls to 0-2.

Lightweight Angel Gutierrez (Queretaro, Mexico) continued the Guerreros’ winning ways against Yahman Phelps (Cincinnati, Ohio) with a 49-46, 48-47, 49-46 unanimous decision. Gutierrez now is 1-1 this season, while Phelps drops to 0-2.

With the Guerreros holding a 12-0 advantage over the Force, Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio), the 2009 U.S. National Champion, stepped into the ring and put an end to the Guerrero dominance over the Force to date this season with a split decision (49-46, 45-50, 49-48) victory over Esquiva Florentino (Espirtú Santo, Brazil). Gausha looked impressive in his WSB debut back on November 26, but had struggled in his previous two bouts. Florentino, meanwhile, looked unbeatable against William Williams of the Miami Gallos back in mid-December but struggled in Gausha’s home ring.

The deciding bout of the evening took place in the light heavyweight division featuring Javier Ortega (Mexico City, Mexico), who came into the evening ranked No. 8 in the WSB, and Tony Mack (Plano, Texas) of the Memphis Force. In a bout that could have gone either way, Ortega got the better of Mack this night with Ortega 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 an 0-2 record.

Heavyweight Javonta Charles (Memphis, Tenn.) 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 (Palm Springs, Calif.), 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.

Up next, the Guerreros get set for a key home match with the Los Angeles Matadors on February 4. The Guerreros are 0-2 against the Matadors thus far on the season. Memphis will travel to Miami February 5 to take on the Gallos, with both team’s having split the season series.

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Three Top-Ranked Boxers in Action on Week Seven

By WSB

26, January, 2011

With six match weekends left to determine who qualifies for the play-offs in April, competition in the World Series of Boxing intensifies further this weekend with rematches of the week six encounters. Nowhere is the competition fiercer than in Europe, where Paris United and Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder, separated by only one win, once again face off in Paris on Friday in a match that will feature three of the top-ranked boxers in the competition.

Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder face another crunch match as they travel to Paris to face European conference leaders Paris United on Friday. On the previous encounter two weeks ago, Paris United’s home victory was enough to lose the Milan team the coveted best runners-up spot, which will ultimately decide the fourth and final team to go through to the play-offs.

The Paris squad chosen for this week has an impressive 11-1 WSB record and includes two top-ranked boxers, bantamweight John Joe Nevin and light heavyweight Ludovic Groguhe. Milano Thunder are replying with their own top-ranked boxer, Sergiy Derevyanchenko of the Ukraine at middleweight, and new signing Tommy McCarthy from Northern Ireland at light heavyweight, who becomes the first British national to compete in the World Series of Boxing.

Memphis Force host the Mexico City Guerreros at the Desoto Civic Center on Thursday night and will start week seven oF the competition desperately looking for a win. Their last home victory dates back to November 26 last year, since when they have dropped four events in a row. Yahman Phelps will be looking to make his mark on a rematch of his previous encounter with Angel Gutierrez in the lightweight contest, which Phelps lost by walkover last time.

The Mexico City Guerreros have a young squad in action this week, with an average age of just over 20, and will be hoping to repeat their away win against the Force in week six to move closer to Americas conference leaders the Los Angeles Matadors. The L.A. team has a six-point advantage over their rivals and will face the Miami Gallos at the Avalon Hollywood on Sunday.

Three new Russian boxers will debut for the Moscow team in Istanbul on Friday night, including 2008 Youth World Championships silver medalist Grigoriy Nikolaychuk, who will take on the unbeaten Mehmet Topcakan in the bantamweight opener. The Istanbulls also have a new signing, Ireland’s David Oliver Joyce, making his debut at lightweight. Heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui from Morocco is the only boxer in action for the Istanbulls on Friday who has lost a bout this season.

The boxers in the Beijing Dragons squad that will host overall WSB leaders Baku Fires in Macau on Saturday have yet to win a bout between them. Baku have brought two boxers for rematches at bantamweight and lightweight, since Magomed Abdulhamidov and Ramal Amanov both beat their opponents for this week in the opening match last November. 22-year-old Abdulkadir Abdullayev makes his debut for the Baku team in this week’s heavyweight contest against 18-year-old Xiangyang Cheng.

Having leapfrogged Milano Thunder into the spot as best runners-up after their last match, the Astana Arlans will be looking to secure their position as they travel to Korea to face the re-baptised Pohang Poseidons in the Pohang Indoor Sport Gymnasium on Saturday. Moldova’s Victor Cotiujanschii will be looking to get off the mark for the home team as he faces a rematch of his week one encounter against Alibi Nurmatov in the middleweight bout. The second foreign boxer in action for the Poseidons is Algeria’s Abdelhafid Benchabla, who will face 2009 AIBA President’s Cup bronze medalist Ramzjon Ahmedov in the light heavyweight bout. Benchabla is unbeaten so far this season and is second in the individual rankings, but his position could be under threat from either of his two closest unbeaten rivals, Enrico Kolling of the Istanbulls and Zhavlonbek Usmanov of the Moscow Kremlin Bears, who face each other on Friday.

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Ireland’s Niven Looking For Fourth Straight Win

By Bernard O’Neill

John Joe Nevin will be looking to record his fourth win in a row as the World Series of Boxing enters the second half of its 12-match season across the Americas, Asia and Europe this weekend.

The Cavan bantamweight, a bronze medal winner at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan, is available for selection for his Paris United against Milan, nicknamed Milano Thunder, in Paris on Friday night.

Nevin is presently in pole position in the WSB Team Championships bantamweight rankings having won all three of his matches so far to help lift his side to the top of the table in the WSB European group.

The top two ranked boxers from the five WSB Team Championships weight categories, bantamweight, lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight, will qualify for the WSB Team Individual Championships which has five Olympic places available.

If Nevin, the youngest member of the Irish 2008 Olympic squad in Beijing at 18, makes it to WSB Individual Championships then he will have to win just one fight to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.

WSB Individual Championships fights will be contested over seven, three minute rounds, as opposed to five, three minute rounds in the WSB Team Championships.

Nevin’s Paris United team-mate Nordine Ouballi, meanwhile, is lying in second spot in the WSB bantamweight rankings, raising the possibility that they both could qualify for the WSB Individual Championships and end up trading leather for a place at the 30th Olympiad.

Nevin, who has beaten Olympic bronze medalist Vincenzo Picardi (Milan), Selcuk Eker (Istanbul) and Vitaliy Volkov (Milan) so far, could meet Vittorio Parrinello - who he beat 11-3 when Ireland beat Italy at the National Stadium in Dublin last March - as United seeks to increase their lead at the top of the table on Friday.

“After this win (over Picardi) I knew I was on the right track. I started well and I felt more confident. It feels great, but it is only half season. I am glad to be on top but I know there is 6 weeks of competition left,” said Nevin.

Meanwhile, Milano Thunder new signings Eamon O’Kane and Tommy McCarthy will also be available for selection for Friday’s crucial clash in the French capital. Milan go into the match three points adrift of United.

Elsewhere in the WSB European group, Istanbul new-signing David Oliver Joyce will line out for the Turk’s versus bottom-of-the-table Moscow at home this Friday evening. Istanbul are lying in third spot in the table, eight points behind Paris United.

In the WSB Americas, Ken Egan’s and John Joe Joyce’s Miami Gallos side are facing a crucial away clash against top-of-the-table Los Angeles on Thursday night. LA beat Miami 4-1 less than two weeks ago, a results that saw Miami drop to third place in the table, one point behind second place Mexico City Guerreros, who will fancy their chances of beating struggling Memphis Force on Thursday.

If Miami fail to win in California - or at least pick up a losing bonus point - then then they will drift ten points behind LA with just five matches remaining.

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

Azerbaijani side Baku Fires are top of the table in the Asian group.

All six Irish boxers are due to return home from their respective WSB sides at the end of this month ahead of the 2011 Irish Senior Championships at the National Stadium.

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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:

.

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.”

.

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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Latest Boxing Results – From Saturday 15^th January, for: Adrien Broner, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dante Jardon, James Bacon, Jason Egera, Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar, Jomar Cordinillo, Memphis Force, Oscar Ibarra, Ricardo Ezequiel Quinones, Guerreros

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• Boxing Results 15 January - Centro Recreativo Municipal, B A, Argentina

Featherweight - Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar def Jose Saez –TKO 2 / 12 - WBO Latino featherweight title.

Welterweight - Ricardo Ezequiel Quinones def Oscar Matias Nunez – SD - 6 / 6.

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• Boxing Results 15 January - Jose Cuervo Salon, Polanco, Mexico

Super flyweight - Oscar Ibarra def Junichiro Sugita – UD 12 / 12 - WBC Silver super flyweight title.

Super featherweight - Dante Jardon def Rene Gonzalez – UD 10 / 10 - WBC Youth World super featherweight title.

WBC Silver super flyweight champion Oscar Ibarra (25-4, 16 KOs) successfully made his second defense of the title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Junichiro Sugita (16-5, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at the Jose Cuervo Salon in Polanco, Mexico. Sugita had his moments, especially late, but judges scored it 115-113, 115-113, 116-113 for Ibarra. In a battle between WBC Youth super featherweight champion Dante “Crazy” Jardon (15-1, 13 KOs) and Rene Gonzalez (28-4-1, 22 KOs). The bout went the full ten rounds with Jardon winning by scores of 99-91, 98-92, 98-92.

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• Boxing results 15 January - Taft Masonic Temple, Ohio, United States

Lightweight - Adrien Broner def John Revish – KO 1 / 10 – Vacant WBC USNBC lightweight title.

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• Boxing Results 15 January - I.T. Park, Barangay Lahug, Philippines

Super bantamweight - Jason Egera def Rolando Magbanua – SD 10 / 10.

Super featherweight - James Bacon def Jake Verano – UD – 10 / 10.

Minimumweight - Jomar Cordinillo def Marlon Talili - UD 6 / 6.

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• WSB - Guerreros defeat Memphis Force - 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.

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• Boxing Results 14 January (Friday) - Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In the main event, Steve ‘The Dragon’ Claggett (11-0-1, 6 KOs) battered previously unbeaten Mexican Jose Julio Mendoza (7-1, 3 KOs) to capture the WBC light welterweight Youth Intercontinental Title. Claggett started out very quickly and boxed well as he took the fight to Mendoza with his pressuring style. The Calgary native scored two knockdowns in Round two, one from a right cross and the other from a left hook. A gallant Mendoza beat the count but was sent down again in the third by a debilitating left to the liver. The Mexican showed a lot of courage in getting to his feet but the referee waived the bout off at the 2:54 mark of round three.

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Latest Boxing News in Brief – Saturday 15^th January for: Amir Khan, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, David Haye, Dmitry Pirog, Frank Warren,Freddie Roach, Gary Shaw Productions, Holyfield-Williams, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Monte Barrett vs. Charles Davis, Ricky Burns, Roman Morales, Vicente Escobedo, Vitali Klitschko - Odlanier Solis, Walter Estrada, WSB News

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• Top amateur star Roman Morales has signed an exclusive contract with world renowned promotional company Gary Shaw Productions. The touted former amateur champion will make his long awaited professional debut on February 4th at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California on the off-television undercard of Showtime’s Shobox: The New Generation tripleheader telecast.

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• David Haye update — According to an news article in The Express, Adam Booth, trainer and manager of “The Hayemaker,” claims his fighter is now targeting the winner of the upcoming Vitali Klitschko-Odlanier Solis clash set for Germany in March. Haye is definitely going to fight in May, but it was widely assumed he would accommodate his mandatory challenger Ruslan Chagaev in his next fight. Now, according to Booth, the WBA champ hopes to face the March 19th winner - whether it’s Klitschko OR Solis.

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• On March 4, lightweight contender and former U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo (22-3, 14 KOs) and streaking veteran Walter Estrada (38-13-1, 25 KOs) will meet in the 10 round main event at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Also junior featherweight prospect Randy Caballero (7-0, 4 KOs) faces TBA in a six rounder. Telefutura will televise.

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• WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan may have to wait for WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-0, 13 KO’s) and WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (26-0, 11 KO’s) to fight each other a second time before Khan gets a shot at the winner, because there reportedly is a rematch clause in the contract for the Bradley-Alexander fight on January 29th at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan.

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• Monte Barrett vs. Charles Davis on Holyfield-Williams PPV card — Former world title challenger Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett is involved in a crossroads fight every time he steps into the ring. His next action is scheduled for January 22nd against Charles Davis in one of four pay-per-view fights on the “Redemption In America: The Journey Begins Now” card, headlined by living legend Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) defending his World Boxing Federation heavyweight title against challenger Sherman “Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KOs), live from America’s resort — The Greenbrier’s Colonial Hall — in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

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• WSB News – Today Saturday will mark the halfway point of the World Series of Boxing’s (WSB) inaugural season, but not before the Mexico City Guerreros travel to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Memphis Force. Both teams hope to try and gain some momentum for the second half of the season as both teams have struggled to find consistency in the early going.

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• WBO super featherweight champion Ricky Burns (30-2, 7 KO’s) is going to be defending his World Boxing Organization title for the second time against #10 ranked Joseph Laryea (14-4, 11 KO’s) in March, according to Frank Warren. It looks like Burns is continuing the milking process which started with his first defense against little known fringe contender Andreas Evensen in December 2010.

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• Pirog to fight on March 11th in Russia — Unbeaten newly crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog (17-0, 14 KO’s) will be fighting on March 11th against a still to be determined opponent at the DIVS, in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Pirog, 30, is coming off an impressive 5th round TKO over highly hyped middleweight hopeful Daniel Jacobs in April of 2010 in a battle for the vacant WBO belt.

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• Former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (31-2, 25 KO’s) will be fighting a stay busy tune-up fight against a still to be determined opponent on February 7th at the RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Muelheim, Nordhein-Westfalen, Germany. Abraham, 30, has been given permission from Showtime to take a fight outside of the Super Six tournament to use it as a tune-up for Abraham’s fight against WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward in May.

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• Trainer Freddie Roach is confident that unbeaten middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will win a major championship in 2011 (By Jhonny Gonzalez). Roach is in Mexico training Chavez for his fight with Billy Lyell on January 29. If victorious, Chavez will possibly return in May against unbeaten Sebastian Zbik for the WBC interim-middleweight title. - “We work hard and long but there are still things that need to improve and we need to continue working. I’d like to see him face Billy Lyell on January 29 and then on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Mosley on May, and then yes, we want to face a champion because he’s ready,” said Roach to Sal Rodriguez. “I have no doubt that Julio will be a world champion. He is talented and has a charisma that will help people. If we can add to his legacy, people will talking about him for a long time.”

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• WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch told BBC Radio 5 Live that he is “very optimistic” that his Super Six semi-final clash against Glen Johnson will take place on May 21st. Froch said he wants to bring the fight to England. No word on whether the other semi-final between WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham will land on the same date.

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