Still no rival fighter has managed to win a combat in the ring installed in the Coliseum of the Havana’s Sports City of the as part of the IV World Series of Boxing (WSB). This Friday the defending champions of the event, the Kazakh Astana Arlans club was swept by the Cuban Domadores. It was the perfect night for Cubans at home, which secured them the leadership of Group B after winning all eight matches that they have undertaken, accumulating 24 points with a couple of matches left in the schedule. Now they present balance of 36 wins and just 4 defeats.
The audience of the island is looking forward to the start of the decisive phase of WSB to see their boxers face major figures of other franchises. And, so far, from the strategy of other clubs of continuously rotating their fighters, the vast majority of the athletes that have arrived in Havana are on second and third level. Not even the Kazakhs, which in their capacity as champions and owners of a recognized school for its undisputed quality, came with at least one man whose performance on the ring deserved praise from the fans.
The Cuban squad, disregarding these decisions of their opponents, continues to fulfill its task. In the match yesterday Yosbani Veitía (49kg ) scored the first victory. Although judges voted a divided 2-1 (49-46, 49-46, 47-48) , only in the second assault his rival, Temirtas Zhussupov, fought back decently. Once Veitia picked up the pace of fighting, he had no trouble staying undefeated in battle after five presentations, and continues as number one ranking in the division.
The combats of Marcos Forestal ( 56kg) and Yasnier Toledo ( 64 kg ) were classic rides in the ring. Forestal faced the best Kazakh in terms of previous results , Baghdad Alimbekov (7-1 in World Series) , but this time the Kazakh left his best boxing in the hotel , because his presentation was quite pale. Evidence of this was the unanimous vote of the judges, with identical ( 50-44 ) on behalf of the Cuban. The victim of Toledo, Ruslan Madiev , barely threw punches in the five rounds , attitude that minimized the Cuban’s physical effort , however , he was better than in previous fights. Jury’s cards: 3-0 (50-45, 49-46, 50-45)
Another one who did not have to excel to reach his fourth success of the tournament was Ramón Luis (75kg). This time he didn’t show the explosion that has accompanied him throughout the WSB, nor did the opposition offered by Yerik Alzhanov merit any more effort. The bout ended before the final gong of the last round, because both fighters suffered cuts on their faces. By then Luis had easily dominated 3-0 (50-45, 49-46, 48-47).
The main merit of inexperienced Arbek Abduganiev was having endured three rounds against Guantanamo’s Erislandy Savon. From the corner, the European coaches decided to stop the punishment before they started the fourth round, bringing the Guantanamo to secure his fifth win of the tournament, including three by TKO, and were reaffirmed as the category leader.
The Cubans have still two matches to finsh this round. Next February 28 they will receive the Baku Fires from Azerbaijan and on March 12 they will travel to Russia. Beyond the expectations of finishing undefeated, fans are looking ahead towards the quarterfinals and the possibility of the Domadores to go against the US Knockouts, a match that will revive the bilateral matches of the 1970s and 80s in both countries
Author
Daniel A. Fernández
