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Astana and Baku also move into semi-finals

PhilBoxing.com


Lausanne, Switzerland, 10 March 2012 - Late on Friday in Mexico, Astana ensured they moved into the final four of this season's WSB competition with a clever victory over the Guerreros. Saturday then saw Baku Fires also book their place to the next stage following an emphatic win on home soil against the Venky's Mumbai Fighters. Both results confirmed the line-up of two titanic semi-finals clashes, as Astana host Dynamo Moscow and Baku travel to Italy for a battle against Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder in just a fortnight's time.

Relive all the matches on www.worldseriesboxingtv.com

Mexico vs. Astana
The Kazakhstan based Franchise, the Astana Arlans, travelled to the Mexican capital with high hopes after a hard fought victory 3-2 at home in the first leg of their quarter-final showdown. In the return fixture last night, the visitors came equipped with two of their leading stars to certify their progression to the next phase of the competition, but it was by no means straight forward.

Braulio Avila Juarez distinguished himself in the opening Bantamweight contest with a domineering display against the Arlans' 24-year-old Uzbek Rafikjon Sultonov to get the Mexico City Guerreros back at 3-3 in the tie. Juarez showcased excellent technique to finish the season with another win under his belt. Another Uzbek, this time fighting out of the home corner, Hurshid Tojibaev, then gave the advantage to the Guerreros with a resounding win over Astana's Lightweight southpaw Samat Bashenov. With Mexico now ahead on aggregate, the crowd were really being vocal.

Astana Arlans however still had both of their aces to play. Step-up Kazak superstar Kanat Slam, WSB's very own knock-out king. The Middleweight 27-year-old has been one of the leaders of his team and proved once again what an asset he is to them last night, this time skilfully dispatching of Bulgaria's Mladen Manev to get the visitors back on level terms.

The highly anticipated match-up between Abdelhafid Benchabla, the current WSB Light Heavyweight Individual Champion, and the Guerreros' Mexican poster-boy Francisco Javier Ortega turned out to be a show of complete domination from the 25-year-old Algerian. Benchabla had yet to really impress his new team this season but this was the night he came good, dismantling Ortega in an exhibition showcasing all his talents. Ortega had no reply to the barrage of quality combination punching from Benchabla, who was throwing punches from all angles to devastating effect and recorded a perfect victory for himself. This one was for the boxing purists.

With the Astana Arlans now ahead in the quarter-final, the Mexico City Guerreros were unable to peg them back following the late withdrawal of Jorge Quinonez from the Heavyweight fight. So it was the Kazak team who progressed here, winning 6:4 overall. Astana will now lock horns with their noisy neighbours, Dynamo Moscow, in the semi-finals. It will be a momentous occasion.
Watch the match again on WSB TV

Baku vs. Mumbai
Following their first defeat of the season during last weekend's quarter-final first leg, Baku Fires were seeking not only a win but a statement of intent against the Venky's Mumbai Fighters. And what a show of dominance it was on their home turf in the Azeri capital today.

In the Bantamweight opener, 21-year-old Russian Magomed Kurbanov got them off to a flyer with a sensational victory against Mumbai's Ukrainian pocket dynamo Ivan Ilnytskyy. Kurbanov was relentless in pursuit of perfection as he took all five rounds on all three judges' scorecards.

Local WSB debutant, southpaw Isa Isayev, then delighted his supporters with a crushing defeat of Mumbai's Lightweight National Champion Diwakar Prasad. Isayev did not lose a round as he completely overawed his opponent and handed the advantage back to his team in the tie.

Baku Fires were now red-hot and Heybulla Mursalov made it a sixth win for himself this season as the Middleweight No.2 battered Konstantin Snigour. Mursalov confirmed his superiority y early on as the 21-year-old orthodox Azeri's power told against the Israeli.

After this contest came the Heavyweight bout between Baku's Ukrainian orthodox Denys Poyatsyka and Mumbai's Paul Koon. It was a gripping contest with both boxers putting on a real show which in the end saw Poyatsyka prevail by split decision. Koon who had struggled with injuries this season dominated the early exchanges but was caught by a few stinging shots as he left himself exposed in the latter stages.

Bringing the evening to a close was crowd favourite and Light Heavyweight Azeri star Ramazan Magomedau, This year's Individual Championship finalist proved once again what a tactically astute fighter he is, with a calculated performance against Leanid Charnabayeu. Magomedau dominated the spirited 19-year-old Belarusian in every department to make it a resounding 5:0 win for the Baku Fires, who now face Milano in the semi-finals in a highly anticipated battle.




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