Astana Arlans leave no chance to Mexico Guerreros 3:2

The last chance or not, the Mexico Guerreros were not able to snatch the victory out of the Astana Arlans' claws. The Alpha Wolves beat the Warriors with 3:2, Tengrinews reports. The Kazakhstan team's head coach Sergey Korchinsky never treats his opponents lightly and he brought the powerhouse boxers to face the semi-finalists of the 3rd season. In the first fight of the night, Miras Zhakupov, a fast and experienced Arlan, faced Elias Emigdio in the flyweight category (-52 kg). It is Emigdio’s 4th season in WSB and he has had an impressive record (13 WP/2TKO) so far. Zhakupov (5WP) has had a great start of the new season with a win over Cuban Gerardo Cervantes. In the first round, the Mexican boxer was swift on his feet and clearly aimed to win. Zhakupov showed a great footwork as well and landed several precise jabs. In the following round, Emigdio threw a hook right at Zhakupov’s head and caught the Kazakh in an uppercut. The Arlan was getting back at Emigdio with fewer attacks. In the 4th round, Zhakupov was mostly concentrating on defense. The Mexican did not lose his determination and Zhakupov was TKOed after missing to many punches. Elias Emigdio lived up to Korchinsky’s concerns as one of the toughest boxers of the Mexican team. The first fight ended with the first loss for the Astana Arlans and 0-1 in the favor of the Mexico Guerreros. The captain of the Astana Wolves Samat Bashenov fought against Lindolfo Delgado of the Guerreros in the lightweight category (-60 kg) in the second fight of the night. It was the second fight for the Mexican boxer. Bashenov threw some great combinations in the first round and outclassed his young opponent. In the second round, the Mexican boxer had more connections. In the final two rounds, the Mexican boxer showcased some great stamina and landed precise jabs. But the experienced Arlan caught Delgado with an uppercut and threw more one-two combinations. However, the Mexican won the bout in the end. Bashenov was one point behind according to the judges. The score got to 2-0 and not in favor of the Arlans. In the following bout in the welterweight (-69 kg) category, a debutant from the Astana Arlans Manat Omerzakov took on an experienced Mexican southpaw Marvin Cabrera (7WP). Omerzakov, a newcomer to WSB, had a great responsibility on his shoulders, as his fight was the only chance for the Astana Wolves to turn the tide and win over the Guerreros. The young Arlan started the first round with some good jabs. His unsettling manner seemed to puzzle the experienced Mexican. After Umerzakov’s two jabs, Cabrera clinched the Kazakh boxer. The Mexican brought his elbow behind the Arlan’s head pushing him to the canvas and received a warning from the referee. Omerzakov threw a number of one-two combinations and was fast enough to get away from Cabrera’s jabs. Cabrera clinched the Arlan several times and threw punches right in his head. Omerzakov returned the favor with more punching power and vigor. Clearly angered with the dirty boxing of the Mexican boxer, Omerzakov stomped towards his opponent and threw the last clean jab right at Cabrera. The young Wolf outclassed his experienced opponent in the following rounds and won his first bout with impressive 49:45; 49:45; 44:50. Omerzakov proved that you cannot tear the win from the fangs of a hungry Wolf. “Debut or not, if you are good enough to box for the Astana Arlans then you are good!” said the WSB commentator about Omerzakov. This brought the score to 2-1. In the fourth bout of the night, Hrvoje Sep of the Astana Wolves met Petru Ciobanu of the Mexico Guerreros in the light heavyweight category (-81 kg). A Croatian Arlan (14WP) is known for his blazing boxing. Ciobanu tried his best against Sep in the first round. But Sep left no chance to the 20 y.o Moldovan mercenary in the following 4 rounds. He beat his opponent 49:46; 50:45; 50:45 and tied the score at 2:2. The final bout of the night was in the super heavyweight category (+91 kg). The titan of the Astana Arlans Filip Hrgovic faced Renat Rakhimov of the Mexico Guerreros. With the evened scores, the super heavyweight fight was the decider. It is not the first time for Hrgovic to defend the pride of the Kazakh team. In an previous intriguing fight, the Croatian mercenary beat Sergey Kuzmin and brought the Arlans their first win over the Russian Boxing Team. Rakhimov was cautious and kept Hrgovic at a distance. In a clinch the Arlan jabbed at Rakhimov. The Uzbek boxer was sturdy enough to stand the powerful jabs of the Arlan. Hrgovic brought Rakhimov to the ropes and threw several head punches. The referee gave the Guerreros boxer an 8 count. In the second round Hrgovic knock downed his opponent again and the coach of the Mexican team threw in a towel. Filip Hrgovic brought the victory to his team. The Astana Arlans won over the Mexico Guerreros with the score of 3:2. The Astana Wolves will be facing the Cuba Domadores in Havana on February 21. Despite losing to the Cuban boxers the Astana Arlans were the first team in the season to bring the score from 5:0 to 3:2. The fight between the main opponents of the B group will be broadcasted by KazSport at 7:30 am of Astana time (GMT-5:00). Earlier, the Astana Arlans won the Russian Boxing team 4:1. By Gyuzel Kamalova