The new management of the Astana Arlans has brought some changes. The Director of the boxing team announced that fights would be hosted not lonely in Almaty and Astana, two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, but in other cities of Kazakhstan too.
The new management of the Astana Arlans has brought some changes. The Director of the boxing team announced that fights would be hosted not lonely in Almaty and Astana, two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, but in other cities of Kazakhstan too.
The first fight of the 5th season traditionally took place in Almaty at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace. The Arlans defeated Venezuela Caciques 5:0.
The upcoming fight against the USA Knockouts will be hosted in Karaganda, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz. Karaganda is the hometown of the WBA Super, IBO and WBC Interim middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and the Olympic champion Serik Sapiev.
However, the Astana Arlans-USA Knockouts fight scheduled to February 7th was postponed to February 8th. The reason for that was the championship of the Senior Hockey League in Karaganda that takes place the same day as the WSB fight. The sports venues that host the Karaganda hockey team Sary Arka’s competitions and boxing championships are situated close by. Karaganda natives are both avid hockey and boxing fans. Also, the Karaganda Arena is usually sold out during hockey competitions. So, to minimize confusion and schedule overlaps, the Astana Arlans decided to reschedule the fight.
According to Sapiev, hosting the WSB fight in Karaganda will be the first step towards promoting the sport in other regions of the country. One of the largest boxing tournaments in Kazakhstan Zharylgapov’s Boxing Tournament annually takes place in Karagada. Earlier, Sapiev opened a Boxing Center in his native city.
By Gyuzel Kamalova