Boxing: British Lionhearts defeat Astana Arlans

The British Lionhearts have defeated the unbeaten Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan in York Hall. That was the first defeat for the Kazakhstan club this season, Vesti.kz writes. By beating the group leader 4-1 the British Lionhearts secured qualification for the playoff stages of the World Series of Boxing and improved their chance to win the one million euros first prize. The Astana Arlans began the evening with Hrvoje Sep's win over Babacar Kamara in the light heavyweight contest. But Liverpool’s lightweight Sam Maxwell quickly evened the score getting Lionhearts back on their feet by winning over Yerzhan Mussafirov. It was Maxwell's first victory in the World Series of Boxing. Lionhearts' Olympic silver medallist Fred Evans then won over Miras Bairkhanov in the middleweight contest. Bantamweight Andrew Selby won over Meirbolat Toitov making the score 3-1. The heavyweight bout of Joe Joyce against the 2012 World Series Boxing champion Filip Hrgovic from Croatia closed the show on a split decision after a titanic five-round battle. However, the Astana Arlans won 5-0 over the British Lionhearts in the first game held on December 2012 in Almaty.