Baku Fires defeat Italia Thunder
A battle of two World Series of Boxing (WSB) superpowers opened
up Season V in Group B, and Azerbaijan Baku Fires enjoyed an
impressive 4-1 home victory over the always dangerous Italia
Thunder.
The fans at the Guba Olympic Complex were treated to five fights of
supreme quality, which fully displayed the international flavour
and talent that the competition enjoys, AzerTag state news agency
reported.
Italy enjoyed their sole victory in the first fight, with dynamic
Light flyweight (49 kg) Paddy Barnes showcasing all of the
characteristics which have earned him two Olympic medals as he won
a wide points victory over Azerbaijan’s Magomed Ibiyev.
Michael Conlon, an Irish teammate of Barnes who also competes for
Italia Thunder could not keep the winning run going at Bantamweight
(56 kg) he he lost a close points decision to Magomed Gurbanov who
maintained his winning WSB run.
Gaybatulla Gadzhialiyev has been one of the standout Light
welterweights (64 kg) across WSB history, and he showed why he is a
legend of the competition as he dropped just one round according to
one judge against Italy’s Olympic and AIBA World Championships
bronze medalist Vincenzo Mangiacapre.
A close contest at Middleweight (75 kg) followed, and Belarus
Middleweight (75 kg) Mikalai Vesialou won the contest for Astana
Arlans with a tight split decision win over Italy’s Salvatore
Cavallaro who will take confidence from his performance in the
fight.
Powerful Heavyweight (91 kg) Abdulkadir Abdullayev continued his
excellent form against Italian boxers in the last fight in Guba, as
he knocked out Fabio Turchi towards the end of the third round.
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