Mumbai: Venky’s Mumbai Fighters pulled a surprising victory over Baku Fires, who were undefeated till Friday night. The Indian boxing team would write the date of March 2, 2012 in golden letters after registering a historic 3-2 win over the Azerbaijani outfit in the first leg of the World Series Boxing (WSB) quarterfinals in Mumbai.
Before the start of the match, Baku Fires had 40 of the 50 bouts they fought to their name and had not lost a single of the 10 league matches. On the other hand, Mumbai Fighters had 24 wins and 26 losses, losing six of their 10 matches, before entering the quarterfinal stage. Going by the sheer numbers, this win has done wonders to the Indian team.
Searching for right words to describe the feeling, the victorious Mumbai Fighters team decided to keep it simple and not break into celebration mode. “What we did on Friday night was tremendous. But we still have the second leg to play in Azerbaijan. And Baku will not take down this defeat lying down,” cautioned Mumbai Fighters’ Technical Director of Pro Boxing, Joe Clough.
Sergii Melnyk, who made his debut for the Indian team in the Light Heavyweight category, could not have asked for a better start to his stint. He said the key was not to let the opponents’ reputation play in your head. “I was focused on the opponent and not the team he played for,” explained Melnyk in brief about his win over Vatan Huseynnli of Baku Fires.
Heavyweight Uaine Fa Junior, who managed to keep his slate clean, though expressed his surprise over his opponent Haji Murtuzaliyev’s dirty tactics. “The match was fine till the third round. But I have never fought an opponent who has played so rough. I managed to win but only after overcoming some dirty ploys,” Fa said of his bout, which once again proved to be the clincher for Fighters.
Team Principal and owner Udit Sheth showered praise on his team’s efforts. “The boys showed poise, character, power and killing instinct in the previous home bout but the job is half done. These (Baku Fires) guys were undefeated until now and playing in Baku with a hostile crowd against us will need a strong show of concentration and aggression. Am sure they are up to the task, excited; and we are all taking it one bout at a time.” Udit concluded.
The Indian team will fly to Baku for the return leg of the quarterfinal to be played on March 10. To add more drama at this stage, there is a provision of a tie-breaker bout. If Fighters and Baku, both win five bouts each from the total 10 played at home and away, a sudden-death bout will come into play. For this fixture, it will be in the Light Heavyweight category, that too in Baku.
By Indian Sports News
