Azerbaijan 5-0 Poland Fires go third

Lausanne, Feb 8, 2014: In a ruthless display of boxing, the Azerbaijan Baku Fires beat the Hussars Poland and overtook the Russian Boxing Team to go into third place in Group B.

With the Mexico Guerreros failing in their last push to qualify to the Playoffs, the focus for the Fires is now on finishing the season ahead of their regional rivals. With Russia vs. Cuba postponed to March the 12th, we will have to wait and see if they can hold on to their one point advantage.

Today we had the Flyweights (52kg), Lightweights (60kg), Welterweights (69kg), Light Heavyweights (81kg) and Super Heavyweights (91+kg) in the ring.

Bout of the match

Magomedrashid Jabrailov of the Baku Fires took on Mateusz Polski of the Hussars Poland with both fighters looking for their first WSB win. The Pole was 0-1 going into the bout whilst the Azeri was making his debut. This was an excellent bout with both boxers very evenly matched and showing some serious class that was out of sync with their limited WSB experience. The Azeri was an explosive athlete, finding his places to rest behind his guard before suddenly unleashing super-powerful but short-lived bursts of activity. Polski meanwhile was an endurance style fighter and this opted to chip away at his opponent continually and try to limit the damage sustained during the aggressive Azeri onslaughts. It was the power of the Fires man that made the difference in the end though as he took the win.

Boxer of the match

WSB debutant Murad Rabadanov looked very solid against Mariusz Koch. The Azeri’s power was almost overwhelming for the young Polish boxer. The new Fires boxer fired off so many shots that it looked like Koch was trying to fend of blows from a swarm of wasps at times. The Pole began to look a little bit more at ease in the discomfort zone in the third, and somehow made it through to the fifth round in a display of excellent survival instincts and tenacity. Rabadanov however looked like he is able to box at an entirely different level. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him making plenty more appearances for the Fires next season.

The turning point

Nineteen year old Welterweight Kamil Akhmedov of the Baku Fires made his debut against Ireneusz Zakrzewski. The Pole, just 21 himself, is 1-2 in the WSB. The Pole had a considerable reach advantage, whilst the Azeri seemed to poses the power. He used that to great effect and began to dominate the match with the Pole desperately chasing. The Hussars man couldn’t do enough however and it was a great first win in the WSB for Akhmedov.

Quote of the match

“Oh my goodness, Mammadov just dropped his opponent like third grade French” – WSB Commentator Will Vanders.

Wrap up

Teymur Mammadov of the Baku Fires was in awesome form against Piotr Podlucki. He knocked his Light Heavyweight opponent down in the first round with a stunning uppercut to the body. The London 2012 bronze medallist continued to use his height advantage to land his jab with the frequency of a nail-gun on random fire mode.

Super Heavyweights Arslanbek Makhmudov and Arkadiusz Toborek took to the canvas in the final contest of the day. The Kazakh was the more powerful athlete and dominated the centre of the ring. The big man’s strength proved too much for the Polish boxer and at 1:53 of round two he won by TKO.

Coming up next

The Azerbaijan Baku Fires will be hosting the dangerous Russian Team in an important match to determine the shape of the mid table. Poland meanwhile will host the Mexico Guerreros in what will effectively be the start of both teams’ preparations for next season.