The Cuba Domadores were ratified as leaders of Group B of the Fourth World Series of Boxing (WSB ) , by winning 3-2 this Saturday over the Azeri Baku Fires club . The victory gained greater relevance because it was as visitors. Now the Caribbean squad has balance of 21 wins and 4 defeats and ends the first round of the WSB unbeaten in five presentations.
Approximately two thousand spectators went to the Guba Olympic Complex in the Asian nation. In the opening fight Yosbany Veitía (49kg) defeated easily Khamza Mametov. After an initial assault with few exchanges, Veitia increased his pace in the next two rounds and closed the last two with clear advantage over the local fighter. The decision of the judges was a unanimous 3-0 (49-45, 49-46, 49-46). This success was the third consecutive for Veitia and confirmed him on the top of the ranking of the division.
Then Robeisy Ramírez ( 56kg) made a triumphant return after the suspension that kept him out of the match against the Russian franchise last December 6 . Magomed Gurbanov was the victim of the verdict 3-0 ( 49-46 , 49-46 , 49-45 ) . The London 2012 Olympic champion faced a fierce rival who went for show but as for the third assault a barrage of accurate swings, straight and hooks, including a protection count, marked the clear victory for the Cuban.
Gaybatulla Gadzhialiyev and Khaybula Musalov made the crowd gathered at the Olympic Complex delirious after beating Yasnier Toledo and Ramon Luis in the 64 and 75 kg respectively. Both fights were lackluster, marked by the convoluted style of the hosts that kept our boxers from validating their best technical condition. Toledo didn’t have a good presentation; only in the last round he showed a clear domain that was not enough to change the outcome of the cards. Ultimately it went 3-0 for the Azerbaijani with identical 48-47.
Ramón Luis faced the most difficult opponent of the Baku Fires , since Musalov accumulated eight wins in World Series . Always going forward, disorganized punching and grabbing constantly were the weapons used by the Azeri in the ring, to counteract the exquisite boxing the Cuban had shown in his previous presentation. At least Musalov managed to convince the judges with this tactic, others, including myself, felt he deserved to be “rewarded “with the defeat. The vote was split 2-1 (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).
With the match tied the scene was ready for close combat in a land of giants. It would be a rematch duel from the Usti Nad Labem Tournament 2012 when Erislandy Savon (91kg ) beat Danis Latypov when discussing the title. This time the Guantanamo boxer repeated the dose and incidentally, secured the match in favor of the Cuban team. In the first assault Savón set for the wrong strategy and ended up giving it away. A secure “reprimand” during the break caused the desired effect and the rest of the fight became an easy walk, validated by a 3-0 (49-45, 49-45, 49-44).
In this group B the Domadores occupy the top with fifteen units. In the second place is defending champions the Kazakh Astana Arlans (13 ). The Russian Team ( 10) and Baku Fires (7 ) close the quartet so far. In the fifth Mexican Warriors are just two units away. Polish Hussars are kept in the basement without being able to garner one single point. The next presentation of the Cubans will be on January 18 , before the Mexicans at the Havana’s Coliseum of the Sports City . Here, we must have the premiere at the World Series of Olympic champion Roniel Iglesias (69kg) .
Author
Daniel A. Fernández
