Mumbai: In a major upset of the World Series Boxing season 2011-12, the home team Venky’s Mumbai Fighters beat the undefeated Group B topper Baku Fires in the first quarterfinal in Mumbai on Friday evening. It came as a major shock to the team of Azerbaijan which had not lost any match, albeit so far, in the series.
In the most exciting match of Fighters, the home team registered a win with 3-2 in a crucial stage. The next quarterfinal will be played in Azerbaijan on March 10, 2012 but the home team has gained crucial three wins and more importantly, the confidence which will help them in the second leg of the quarterfinals ahead.
In the first bout between the Fighters’ Tomasz Jabłoński and Mikalai Vesialou of Baku Fires in Middleweight category, Mikalai ousted Tomasz from the beginning. The debutant Tomasz showed aggression in the last round but the opponent was declared as winner in a split decision of the judges 48:47, 45:50, 45:50.
The first win in the evening came in the Light Heavyweight category for the Fighters from debutant Sergii ‘Lion’ Melnyk who was put up against Vatan Huseynli. Sergii kept the opponent under the pressure throughout the bout landing some strong punches but had also been on the receiving end. In a unanimous decision of the judges Sergii was declared winner with 49:46, 48:47, 49:46 points.
The sole Indian boxer in this quarterfinal for the Fighters’ Jitender Kumar entered the ring with all out support from the local crowd against WSB ranked 1 Gairbek Germakhanov of Baku Fires in the Bantamweight category. Gairbek holds the record of winning all 5 bouts in this series including one technical knock-out against Murat Temur of Istanbul Bosphorus. And he lived up to his reputation. If was fury of punches throughout the first three rounds of which Gairbek won two and Jitender won one round. In the fourth round Jitender received a deep cut on his left eyebrow making him unable to pursue further and the opponent was declared winner in a technical draw on the count of three rounds 37:39, 38:38, 38:38.
The next bout was between the home crowd’s much adored Charly Suarez in Lightweight category and Baku Fires’ Semen Grivachev. The knock-out boxer of Fighters’ Charly was aggressive showing technical skills landed some heavy blows on the opponent. Charly did not disappoint his fans chanting his name from the T-Box mobile arena of TransStadia. In a unanimous decision, he was declared winner 48:47, 49:46, 49:46.
By the end of fourth round, the match had become pulsating with 2-2 score of both teams. All eyes were set to the last bout of Heavyweight category. Crowd favourite Uaine Fa Junior of Fighters was put up against Haji Murtuzaliyev of Baku Fires. Fa Junior fought up to his reputation and kept his winning streak alive with his third consecutive win the series. He was declared winner 49:46, 48:47, 48:47.
Match Results
Venky’s Mumbai Fighters vs Baku Fires
BANTAMWEIGHT
Jitender Kumar vs Gairbek Germakhanov
WINNER: Gairbek Germakhanov - 3:0
LIGHTWEIGHT
Charly Suarez vs Semen Grivachev
WINNER: Charly Suarez – 3:0
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Tomasz Jabłoński vs Mikalai Vesialou
WINNER: Mikalai Vesialou - 1:2
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Sergii Melnyk vs Vatan Huseynli
WINNER: Sergii Melnyk - 3:0
HEAVYWEIGHT
Uaine Fa vs Haji Murtuzaliyev
Winner: Uaine Fa- 3:0
