WSB YEARBOOK INAUGURAL SEASON, 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK INAUGURAL SEASON, 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK - 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WELCOME MESSAGE FROM WSB CHAIRMAN OF BOARD AND AIBA PRESIDENT ............................
5
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................
7
INTRODUCTION TO AIBA & WSB .................................................................................................. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WSB ...................................................................................................... WSB STRUCTURE ..........................................................................................................................
8 9 10
INAUGURAL SEASON ............................................................................................................................
13
SEASON SCHEDULE ...................................................................................................................... RESULTS BY CONFERENCE ............................................................................................................ PLAY-OFF & FINALS RESULTS ..........................................................................................................
14 16 19
WSB FRANCHISES ..................................................................................................................................
21
WSB FRANCHISES ......................................................................................................................... LOS ANGELES MATADORS ............................................................................................................ MEMPHIS FORCE .......................................................................................................................... MEXICO CITY GUERREROS ........................................................................................................... MIAMI GALLOS ............................................................................................................................. ASTANA ARLANS .......................................................................................................................... BAKU FIRES .................................................................................................................................. BEIJING DRAGONS ........................................................................................................................ POHANG POSEIDONS .................................................................................................................... ISTANBULLS .................................................................................................................................. MILANO THUNDER ....................................................................................................................... MOSCOW KREMLIN BEARS ........................................................................................................... PARIS UNITED ................................................................................................................................ SEMI-FINAL 1ST LEG ........................................................................................................................ SEMI-FINAL 2ND LEG .......................................................................................................................
22 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 74
TEAM FINALS .........................................................................................................................................
77
78 80 82 86
HOST CITY .................................................................................................................................... TEAM FINALS RECAP .................................................................................................................... CONTESTING TEAMS AND BOXERS ............................................................................................... TEAM FINALS RESULTS ..................................................................................................................
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS .............................................................................................................
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP ........................................................................................... 90 BANTAMWEIGHT RANKING & FINALISTS ...................................................................................... 92 LIGHTWEIGHT RANKING & FINALISTS ........................................................................................... 94 MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKING & FINALISTS . ........................................................................................ 96 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKING & FINALISTS ................................................................................ 98 HEAVYWEIGHT RANKING & FINALISTS .......................................................................................... 100
WSB OFFICIALS ....................................................................................................................................... SUPERVISORS ................................................................................................................................ RINGSIDE DOCTORS AND MEDICAL STATISTICS ............................................................................ REFEREES & JUDGES ..................................................................................................................... WSB SPONSORS .....................................................................................................................................
89
103 104 105 106 109
KSS ............................................................................................................................................... 110 TOP TEN ........................................................................................................................................ 112
WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA ..................................................................................................................... 115
WSB TV COVERAGE ...................................................................................................................... TV HOURS OF COVERAGE ............................................................................................................. TV AUDIENCE ............................................................................................................................... TV COVERAGE AND AUDIENCE BY TERRITORY ............................................................................. INTERNET & SOCIAL MEDIA .......................................................................................................... WSB PR IN NUMBERS .................................................................................................................... PRESS CLIPPINGS .......................................................................................................................... TESTIMONIALS & QUOTES ............................................................................................................ THANKS ........................................................................................................................................
116 118 119 120 122 124 125 128 132
WSB YEARBOOK: TABLE OF CONTENTS - 3
MESSAGE FROM WSB CHAIRMAN OF BOARD AND AIBA PRESIDENT Welcome to the historic first-ever yearbook of the World Series of Boxing. This publication covers all the details that have led to the creation of this revolutionary new project and all information and statistics for the 20102011 season. The fact that AIBA was able to take the concept of the World Series of Boxing from the drawing board to reality in a comparatively short space of time is an immense source of pride for me. Having followed the project from its birth to the exciting conclusion of the first season in Guiyang, I can safely say that the WSB has great potential for the future. Once the season got underway in November 2010, the last remaining doubts about its viability were quickly dispelled as the twelve teams and boxing fans all over the world started to focus on the competition.
And what a competition it was! For the first time the world’s best amateur boxers were competing in teams on a regular basis without headguards and using professional scoring. At the same time, they retained their status as AIBA boxers and were still able to compete in their major national championships and selected other tournaments, all the time earning a regular salary – plus bonuses – from their team. After a total of 390 bouts, Paris United, a team set up by a former boxer who had immediately understood the game-changing potential of the WSB, won the World Championship title and half a million dollars in prize money. Two weeks later, five individual boxers secured qualification places for the London 2012 Olympic Games by becoming the first WSB champions in each of the five weight categories. But it has been clear from the outset that this is only the beginning. All those involved in the World Series of Boxing know that there is still plenty of work to do and that the competition’s true potential will only be realized after several seasons. With this in mind, we look to the future. But this historic yearbook nevertheless acts as a milestone for how far the WSB has already come on its revolutionary journey. Yours boxing,
Dr Ching-Kuo Wu
WSB YEARBOOK: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE - 5
INTRODUCTION YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: INTRODUCTION - 7
INTRODUCTION OF AIBA & WSB The World Series of Boxing is wholly owned by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the world governing body for the sport of boxing recognized by the International Olympic Committee. As a result, all boxers in the World Series of Boxing are registered with AIBA and are eligible to participate in AIBA events, as well as the Olympic Games. Furthermore, all officials working at World Series of Boxing matches are experienced AIBA officials with a collective experience of many years in the field of boxing. AIBA: TO LEAD AND GOVERN WORLD-WIDE THE SPORT OF BOXING IN ALL ITS FORMS The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is a non-profit international organization which was founded under the name Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur (FIBA) in 1920. In 1946 a new start was given with the launch of AIBA to replace the dissolved FIBA. Today AIBA with its 193 member federations, continues to govern the sport of boxing, working for the benefit of the sport and all its participants, to help boxing realize its goals within the Olympic Movement and the international sporting arena. AIBA is governed by its Congress, which consists of the President, the Executive Director, the Vice Presidents, the Executive Committee and a delegate from each affiliated National Boxing Federation. The AIBA Congress meets every four years. Between Congresses the highest executive body of AIBA is the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee and its Executive Committee Bureau carry out the dayto-day business of AIBA. The Executive Committee consists of the President, nine Vice Presidents, the
Executive Director and 20 members who are elected as representatives of the different continents. Commissions within AIBA consist of experts in their field who work on annual and four-year working programs which are submitted to the Executive Committee at the first Executive Committee Annual Meeting following the Congress. Each Commission is subject to the directions of the Executive Committee, which it keeps informed through activity reports. WSB: A NEW VISION FOR THE BOXING WORLD The World Series of Boxing (WSB) marks a new era in the sport of boxing, reuniting the broader boxing world and its grassroots amateur foundation by providing a bridge between Olympic Boxing and Professional Boxing. The competition format consists of a team competition and an individual program. Teams of a minimum of 10 boxers represent 12 cities in three regional conferences: Asia, Europe and the Americas. WSB matches consist of: • 5 weight categories: bantam, light, middle, light heavy and heavy • 5 bouts per match • 5 rounds of 3 minutes per bout • Manual scoring The WSB season concludes with Individual Championships between the top two boxers in the individual ranking in each weight category at the end of the regular season. The WSB individual champions receive the titleholder’s belt, 20,000 US dollars in prize money and – in the first season – a qualification place for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
FROM IDEA TO REALITY A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WSB 2008
AUGUST: The WSB is first presented as a project to the AIBA member federations, the world sporting community and the international media at a special dinner during the Beijing Olympic Games
APRIL: First test event
2009
JUNE: International boxer draft
FEBRUARY: Shareholder Agreement signed with IMG APRIL: First franchise meetings AUGUST: Media launch and logo unveiling SEPTEMBER: Brazil’s Paulo Carvalho and Pedro Lima become the first boxers to sign participation agreements with the WSB
Milan and Moscow franchises signed
MAY: IOC approves Olympic qualification for WSB individual champions
OCTOBER: First exhibition match NOVEMBER: Season start 2011 MAY: Season concludes with Paris United crowned as first WSB World Champion and five boxers qualified for London 2012 Olympic Games
2010 JANUARY: All four Asian franchises signed during AIBA Executive Committee meeting in Xiamen, China AIBA Executive Committee adopts WSB Technical and Competition Rules MARCH:
WSB YEARBOOK: INTRODUCTION - 9
WSB STRUCTURE
Board
CEO
Finance
Legal
COO
Administration
TV Marketing
Sport
Competition
Communications
Events
The WSB Head Office is located at the House of International Sport (Maison du Sport International, or MSI) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The MSI is home to numerous international sports organizations, with many others - including the International Olympic Committee - headquartered in the city. Headed by the AIBA President, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, as Chairman of the WSB Board of Directors, and operated by Chief Executive Officer Mr Ho Kim and Chief Operating Officer Mr Ivan Khodabakhsh, the Head Office manages the WSB competition in close collaboration with the franchise teams, National Federations and the different AIBA Commissions.
The team working at the Head Office is multicultural with employees hailing from twelve different countries - a diversity which is particularly valuable in managing a tournament that is global in scope. Most of the staff members have attended different AIBA and WSB events and competitions in order to develop an in-depth understanding of the management of international boxing competitions.
WSB YEARBOOK: INTRODUCTION - 11
INAUGURAL SEASON YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: INAUGURAL SEASON - 13
WSB SEASON 2010-2011 SEASON SCHEDULE In its inaugural season, the World Series of Boxing consisted of 12 teams that spanned the globe, from the Pohang Poseidons in the East to the Los Angeles Matadors in the West. These teams competed in three conferences (Asia, Europe and the Americas) in the regular season, with the top team in each conference, plus the best runner-up from the three conferences, qualifying for the play-offs.
WEEK
1
WSB boxers compete without headguards or vests, with professional-style scoring using three judges and one referee. A WSB match consists of five bouts, with each bout consisting of five rounds of three minutes each. The team with most wins from five bouts wins the match. Each team has a minimum squad of 10 boxers and a maximum of 20 boxers, i.e. a minimum of two boxers in each weight category. The team is made up of both national boxers and foreign boxers, with at least three foreign boxers required in a squad of ten, up to six in a squad of 20.
2
3
4
DATE
HOME
AWAY
19.11.2010
Milan
Paris
19.11.2010
Mexico City
Memphis
20.11.2010
Astana
Pohang
20.11.2010
Baku
Beijing
20.11.2010
Moscow
Istanbul
23.11.2010
Miami
Los Angeles
26.11.2010
Istanbul
Milan
26.11.2010
Paris
Moscow
26.11.2010
Memphis
Miami
27.11.2010
Beijing
Pohang
27.11.2010
Astana
Baku
28.11.2010
Los Angeles
Mexico City
09.12.2010
Miami
Mexico City
10.12.2010
Istanbul
Paris
11.12.2010
Astana
Beijing
11.12.2010
Baku
Pohang
11.12.2010
Moscow
Milan
12.12.2010
Los Angeles
Memphis
16.12.2010
Memphis
Los Angeles
17.12.2010
Milan
Moscow
17.12.2010
Paris
Istanbul
17.12.2010
Mexico City
Miami
18.12.2010
Beijing
Astana
18.12.2010
Baku
Pohang
WEEK
5
6
7
8
DATE
HOME
AWAY
05.01.2011
Miami
07.01.2011
WEEK
DATE
HOME
AWAY
Memphis
18.02.2011
Paris
Istanbul
Milan
Istanbul
18.02.2011
Milan
Moscow
07.01.2011
Mexico City
Los Angeles
18.02.2011
Memphis
Los Angeles
08.01.2011
Pohang
Beijing
18.02.2011
Mexico City
Miami
08.01.2011
Baku
Astana
19.02.2011
Beijing
Astana
08.01.2011
Moscow
Paris
19.02.2011
Baku
Pohang
13.01.2011
Los Angeles
Miami
25.02.2011
Istanbul
Paris
14.01.2011
Istanbul
Moscow
26.02.2011
Pohang
Baku
14.01.2011
Paris
Milan
26.02.2011
Moscow
Milan
15.01.2011
Beijing
Baku
27.02.2011
Astana
Beijing
15.01.2011
Astana
Pohang
27.02.2011
Miami
Mexico City
15.01.2011
Memphis
Mexico City
28.02.2011
Los Angeles
Memphis
27.01.2011
Memphis
Mexico City
03.03.2011
Memphis
Miami
28.01.2011
Pohang
Astana
11.03.2011
Istanbul
Milan
28.01.2011
Istanbul
Moscow
11.03.2011
Paris
Moscow
28.01.2011
Paris
Milan
12.03.2011
Beijing
Pohang
29.01.2011
Beijing
Baku
12.03.2011
Astana
Baku
30.01.2011
Los Angeles
Miami
14.03.2011
Los Angeles
Mexico City
04.02.2011
Milan
Istanbul
16.03.2011
Mexico City
Memphis
04.02.2011
Mexico City
Los Angeles
17.03.2011
Miami
Los Angeles
05.02.2011
Pohang
Beijing
18.03.2011
Milan
Paris
05.02.2011
Baku
Astana
19.03.2011
Pohang
Astana
05.02.2011
Moscow
Paris
19.03.2011
Baku
Beijing
13.03.2011
Miami
Memphis
19.03.2011
Moscow
Istanbul
9
10
11
12
WSB YEARBOOK: INAUGURAL SEASON - 15
WSB SEASON 2010-2011 RESULTS BY CONFERENCE AMERICAS CONFERENCE
WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
19.11.2010 23.11.2010 26.11.2010 28.11.2010 09.12.2010 12.12.2010 16.12.2010 17.12.2010 05.01.2011 07.01.2011 13.01.2011 15.01.2011 27.01.2011 30.01.2011 04.02.2011 13.02.2011 18.02.2011 18.02.2011 27.02.2011 28.02.2011 03.03.2011 14.03.2011 16.03.2011 17.03.2011
Mexico City Miami Memphis Los Angeles Miami Los Angeles Memphis Mexico City Miami Mexico City Los Angeles Memphis Memphis Los Angeles Mexico City Miami Memphis Mexico City Miami Los Angeles Memphis Los Angeles Mexico City Miami
5-0 3-2 4-1 5-0 3-2 4-1 1-4 4-1 4-1 1-4 4-1 0-5 2-3 5-0 4-1 2-3 4-1 4-1 1-4 5-0 3-2 4-1 3-2 4-1
Memphis Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Mexico CIty Memphis Los Angeles Miami Memphis Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Mexico City Miami Los Angeles Memphis Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Memphis Miami Mexico City Memphis Los Angeles
ASIA CONFERENCE
WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
20.11.2010 20.11.2010 27.11.2010 27.11.2010 11.12.2010 11.12.2010 18.12.2010 18.12.2010 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 15.01.2011 15.01.2011 28.01.2011 29.01.2011 05.02.2011 05.02.2011 19.02.2011 19.02.2011 26.02.2011 27.02.2011 12.03.2011 12.03.2011 19.03.2011 19.03.2011
Astana Baku Beijing Astana Astana Baku Beijing Baku Pohang Baku Beijing Astana Pohang Beijing Pohang Baku Beijing Baku Pohang Astana Beijing Astana Pohang Baku
5-0 5-0 3-2 1-4 4-1 4-1 0-5 4-1 4-1 3-2 2-3 5-0 2-3 2-3 2-3 3-2 1-4 2-3 0-5 5-0 3-2 5-0 2-3 5-0
Pohang Beijing Pohang Baku Beijing Pohang Astana Pohang Beijing Astana Baku Pohang Astana Baku Beijing Astana Astana Pohang Baku Beijing Pohang Baku Astana Beijing
WSB YEARBOOK: INAUGURAL SEASON - 17
WSB SEASON 2010-2011 RESULTS BY CONFERENCE EUROPE CONFERENCE
WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
19.11.2010 20.11.2010 26.11.2010 26.11.2010 10.12.2010 11.12.2010 17.12.2010 17.12.2010 07.01.2011 08.01.2011 14.01.2011 14.01.2011 28.01.2011 28.01.2011 04.02.2011 05.02.2011 18.02.2011 18.02.2011 25.02.2011 26.02.2011 11.03.2011 11.03.2011 18.03.2011 19.03.2011
Milan Moscow Istanbul Paris Istanbul Moscow Milan Paris Milan Moscow Istanbul Paris Istanbul Paris Milan Moscow Milan Paris Istanbul Moscow Istanbul Paris Milan Moscow
3-2 3-2 3-2 5-0 2-3 2-3 4-0 4-1 4-1 1-4 3-2 4-1 4-1 2-3 3-1 2-3 5-0 4-1 2-3 3-2 3-2 4-0 4-1 3-2
Paris Istanbul Milan Moscow Paris Milan Moscow Istanbul Istanbul Paris Moscow Milan Moscow Milan Istanbul Paris Moscow Istanbul Paris Milan Milan Moscow Paris Istanbul
WSB SEASON 2010-2011 PLAY-OFF & FINALS RESULTS PLAY-OFFS
LEG 1 2
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
09.04.2011 09.04.2011 15.04.2011 17.04.2011
Astana Baku Paris Los Angeles
4-1 3-2 5-0 2-3
Los Angeles Paris Baku Astana
DATE
TEAM A
SCORE
TEAM B
7-8.05.2011
Paris
6-4
Astana
FINALS
WSB YEARBOOK: INAUGURAL SEASON - 19
WSB FRANCHISES YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 21
WSB FRANCHISES
219 BOXERS FROM 49 COUNTRIES
• 41 Bantamweight boxers (≤ 54 kg) • 41 Lightweight boxers (≤ 61 kg) • 50 Middleweight boxers (≤ 73 kg) • 44 Light Heavyweight boxers (≤ 85 kg) • 43 Heavyweight boxers (91+ kg) WSB BOXERS REPRESENT 49 COUNTRIES Algeria
France
Montenegro
Argentina
Great Britain
Netherland Antilles
Armenia
Georgia
New Zealand
Australia
Germany
Poland
Azerbaijan
Ghana
Romania
Barbados
Hungary
Russia
Benin
Ireland
Senegal
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Italy
Serbia
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Sweden
Brazil
Kenya
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Kyrgyzstan
Turkey
China
Korea
Ukraine
Colombia
Latvia
USA
Croatia
Morocco
Uzbekistan
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Venezuela
Ecuador
Moldova
Egypt
Mongolia
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 23
LOS ANGELES MATADORS
MANAGEMENT The Los Angeles Matadors team is managed by B360 Studios, an Entertainment Brand Management company with expertise in consumer brand building and creating new revenue opportunities through TV, online, mobile, special events, and licensing programs. Co-founders of B360 Studios Ray Doustdar and Rich Orosco are also the co-creators of “The Incredible Ferrignos”, a reality TV project starring fitness icon Lou Ferrigno and the new family fitness and lifestyle brand “Ferrigno Fit.”. Team website: www.lamatadors.com
VENUE AVALON HOLLYWOOD Avalon is one of Hollywood’s most historic landmarks. From the Beatles’ first West Coast performance in 1964 to ABC’s hit ‘Hollywood Palace’ hosted by Jerry Lewis and Sasha’s first West Coast DJ residency, the theater at Hollywood and Vine has been a show-business epicenter since opening in 1927.
Ray Doustdar and Rich Orosco, Management
Manuel Robles, Head Coach
HEAD COACH: MANUEL ROBLES
ASSISTANT COACHES: ROBERTO “THE BISHOP” LUNA
“Super” Manny Robles has been coaching for 15 years but says that boxing has been in his blood since he was a kid.
Luna has been coaching for 13 years and has had the privilege of training a boxer from his first boxing match all the way to the Olympic Games. He has acted as a coach at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2007, the USA National Championships, the National PAL, National Golden Gloves, and National Silver Gloves. But the most notable competitions he has coached in are the World Championships and Olympic Qualifiers.
After he retired from boxing he felt that coaching was the best way to stay in involved and give back to the sport that he loves. Manny worked with Reggie Johnson when he fought for the undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship of the World against Roy Jones. He also worked with Carlos Famous Hernandez in his home country of El Salvador in front of a packed arena. Hernandez won the fight by a KO and became the first and only World Champion ever from El Salvador.
Roberto Luna, Assistant Coach
JOSE “NO TOMORROW” NAVARRO Navarro had only been coaching for five months when he took on the role of assistant coach for LA’s newest team. He decided to become coach out of a desire to give back and share everything he had learned and experienced in his 25 years as a fighter to the LA Matadors. Navarro was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team.
Jose Navarro, Assistant Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 25
LOS ANGELES MATADORS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Joseph Pedroza DIAZ JR (USA) 1-1 Fernando MARTINEZ (ARG) 4-2 Rau’Shee WARREN (USA) 5-0 LIGHTWEIGHT Everton DOS SANTOS LOPES (BRA) 3-1 Eric Miguel FLORES (USA) 2-1 Eric FOWLER (USA) 4-1 Jose SAENZ (USA) 1-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT Carlos GONGORA (ECU) 2-0 Russell LAMOUR (USA) 4-2 Christopher Eric PEARSON (USA) 3-0 Charles WATSON (USA) 0-2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Dorian ANTHONY (USA) 1-1 Elber SANTOS DOS PASSOS (BRA) 1-2 Vyacheslav SHABRANSKYY (UKR) 4-2 HEAVYWEIGHT David IMOESIRI (USA) 5-2 Javier Jose TORRES (USA) 2-4
LOS ANGELES MATADORS RESULTS
WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DATE 23.11.2010 28.11.2010 12.12.2010 16.12.2010 07.01.2011 13.01.2011 30.01.2011 04.02.2011 18.02.2011 28.02.2011 14.03.2011 17.03.2011
HOME Miami Los Angeles Los Angeles Memphis Mexico City Los Angeles Los Angeles Mexico City Memphis Los Angeles Los Angeles Miami
SCORE 3-2 5-0 4-1 1-4 1-4 4-1 5-0 4-1 4-1 5-0 4-1 4-1
AWAY Los Angeles Mexico City Memphis Los Angeles Los Angeles Miami Miami Los Angeles Los Angeles Memphis Mexico City Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES MATADORS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
1
25
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
8
4
12
40
20
0
60
SEMI FINALS: LOS ANGELES MATADORS RESULTS
LEG 1 2
DATE 09.04.2011 17.04.2011
HOME Astana Los Angeles
SCORE 4-1 2-3
AWAY Los Angeles Astana
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 27
MEMPHIS FORCE
MANAGEMENT 2008 Olympic Team Manager Joe Smith is using his nearly two decades of experience in boxing to guide the Memphis Force as the squad’s General Manager. Prior to joining the Memphis Force, the Chattanooga, Tennessee resident served as the Regional Director of the YMCA’s YCAP program, the longest running delinquency prevention program in southeast Tennessee. Since 1998, YCAP has served over 1400 at-risk young people helping them to avoid out-of-home placements. Chairman of the Tennessee Athletic Commission, Smith has held numerous positions in amateur boxing, including Vice President of USA Boxing, and President of both the Chattanooga Golden Gloves and USA Boxing Southeast Association. Smith and his wife of 35 years, Paula, have two children, Andy and Abbey, and have raised 19 foster kids. Team website: www.memphisforce.com
VENUE DESOTO CIVIC CENTER The DeSoto Civic Center is an 8411 capacity multipurpose arena in Southaven, Mississippi. Built in 2000, it is comprised of an arena, convention hall and theater. The arena where the matches are held contains a jumbotron (which can be seen from anywhere in the arena) and a state-of-the-art sound and video system.
HEAD COACH: ANTHONY BRADLEY Anthony Bradley brings extensive leadership experience having served as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army Airborne and the coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team in Athens, Greece. He coached the World Championships in 2001 and 2009 and won USA Boxing’s Coach of the Year in 2003. Bradley served as Head Coach of the Pan American Games in 1999 and 2003. Anthony Bradley, Head Coach
ASSISTANT COACHES: CHARLES MOONEY Charles Mooney brings years of boxing experience to the Memphis team as the bantamweight Silver Medalist in the 1976 Olympics. A retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, Mooney managed the Charles Mooney Academy of Boxing in Rockville, Maryland. PETE MITCHELL
Charles Mooney, Assistant Coach
Mitchell is a five-time Amateur National Champion in boxing and a former high school and college football coach. He trains boxers at the Memphis PAL Gym. JULIUS FOGLE Fogle built a career in professional boxing and became the 2002 Middleweight National Champion. He is also a two-time Olympic Team Trials participant.
Julius Fogle, Assistant Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 29
MEMPHIS FORCE
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Ronny BEBLIK (GER) 0-3 Detelin DALAKLIEV (BUL) 2-3 Ernesto Roman GARZA (USA) 1-3 LIGHTWEIGHT Elian Veselinov DIMITROV (BUL) 0-2 Yahman PHELPS (USA) 1-2 Raynell WILLIAMS (USA) 4-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT Terrell GAUSHA (USA) 4-2 Christopher JONES (USA) 0-4 Marquis MOORE (USA) 0-1 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Robert BRANT (USA) 0-3 Anthony MACK (USA) 0-3 Imre SZELLO (HUN) 3-1 HEAVYWEIGHT Danny CALHOUN (USA) 0-2 Javonta CHARLES (USA) 2-3 Lenroy THOMPSON (USA) 2-2
MEMPHIS FORCE RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
19.11.2010 26.11.2010 12.12.2010 16.12.2010 05.01.2011 15.01.2011 27.01.2011 13.02.2011 18.02.2011 28.02.2011 03.03.2011 16.03.2011
Mexico City Memphis Los Angeles Memphis Miami Memphis Memphis Miami Memphis Los Angeles Memphis Mexico City
5-0 4-1 4-1 1-4 4-1 0-5 2-3 2-3 4-1 5-0 3-2 3-2
Memphis Miami Memphis Los Angeles Memphis Mexico City Mexico City Memphis Los Angeles Memphis Miami Memphis
MEMPHIS FORCE FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
4
14
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
4
8
12
21
39
0
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 31
MEXICO CITY GUERREROS
MANAGEMENT The Mexico City Guerreros’ management team is headed up by Event Director Gerardo Saldivar, who has nearly 10 years of experience in sports management. Saldivar broadened his vision of sport, graduating from the FIFA Master, a prestigious one-year program granted by three European Universities (Leicester, SDA Bocconi and Neuchatel) in Humanities, Management and Law of Sport. He earned his MBA at Universidad de las Americas and Bachelor in Sports Management from the UANL in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Team website: www.mexicocityguerreros.com VENUE JOSE CUERVO SALON Formerly known as Room 21, Jose Cuervo Salon has been operated by OCESA since May 2003. The venue is split into two separate areas—the main area which has a capacity of 3500 and the lobby which can hold 300 people. The main area is used for concerts, dances, film and record presentations, corporate dinners, etc. The lobby is used for more intimate events such as private parties and cocktails.
HEAD COACH: FRANCISCO BONILLA VAZQUEZ
ASSISTANT COACHES: SGT. GUILLERMO BECERRIL
52-year-old Francisco Bonilla Vasquez hails from the very traditional boxing neighborhood of Tepito, Mexico. He’s been a national trainer since 1990 and a coach of the Mexico National Team since 2004.
38-year-old Becerril was born in Mexico City, Mexico and has been a national trainer since 2005. Becerril was a national athlete from 1995 to 2005 and is a current sergeant and boxing trainer for the National Army.
His career includes winning the 2000 Olympic Bronze Medal with Christian Bejarano in Sydney, Australia and the 2007 Panamerican Gold Medal with Carlos Cuadras in Rio de Janeiro. Other highlights include helping Oscar Valdez and Oscar Molina become World Youth Champions in Guadalajara 2008 and winning the first medal for Mexico in an AIBA World Championship with Oscar Valdez in Milan 2009.
OSCAR VALDEZ Valdez is 40 years old and was born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. He is a professional and amateur boxing trainer and a retired professional boxing manager. Father of the outstanding National Boxer Oscar Valdez, Valdez helped his son win the 2007 National Championships and helped put him on track for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Fransisco Bonilla Vazquez, Head Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 33
MEXICO CITY GUERREROS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Braulio AVILA (MEX) 4-2 Elias EMIGDIO (MEX) 3-1 Oscar NEGRETE (COL) 1-0 LIGHTWEIGHT Angel GUTIERREZ (MEX) 2-1 Hector MANZANILLA (VEN) 1-1 Juan ROMERO (MEX) 2-3 Oscar Rafael VALDEZ FIERRO (MEX) 1-0 MIDDLEWEIGHT Josip DURIC (CRO) 1-1 Roberto ESPINOSA (MEX) 0-1 Esquiva FLORENTINO (BRA) 1-1 Yamaguchi FLORENTINO (BRA) 4-2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Kennedy KATENDE (SWE) 2-1 Jeysson MONROY VARELA (COL) 1-0 Cristian Alan MONTENEGRO (MEX) 0-1 Fracisco ORTEGA (MEX) 3-2 HEAVYWEIGHT Mario HEREDIA (MEX) 1-1 Juan HIRACHETA (MEX) 3-1 Jose David PAYARES (VEN) 2-0 Alex RIVERA (MEX) 0-2 Damian SEALY (BAR) 0-1
MEXICO CITY GUERREROS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
19.11.2010 28.11.2010 09.12.2010 17.12.2010 07.01.2011 15.01.2011 27.01.2011 04.02.2011 18.02.2011 27.02.2011 14.03.2011 16.03.2011
Mexico City Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Mexico City Memphis Memphis Mexico City Mexico City Miami Los Angeles Mexico City
5-0 5-0 3-2 4-1 1-4 0-5 2-3 4-1 4-1 1-4 4-1 3-2
Memphis Mexico City Mexico CIty Miami Los Angeles Mexico City Mexico City Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Mexico City Memphis
MEXICO CITY GUERREROS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
2
25
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
8
4
12
36
24
0
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 35
MIAMI GALLOS
MANAGEMENT The Miami-Dade Sports Commission managed the Miami Gallos in the inaugural season of the World Series of Boxing. Mike Sophia was selected to serve as the Miami-Dade Sports Commission’s first Executive Director and has been with the Commission since April 1, 2004. In addition to General Manager Mike Sophia, the Miami Gallos management team consists of Assistant General Manager Jose Rodriguez, Director of Media & Community Relations Elizabeth Gunn, Director of Sales Craig Stedman, Marketing/ Production Director Claudia Drago, Marketing/ Promotions Director Carla Colato and Event Operations Director Sofia Fuentes. Team website: www.miamigallos.com
J. Burns, Assistant Coach
F. Nazario, Assistant Coach
HEAD COACH: PATRICK BURNS
ASSISTANT COACHES: JOSEPH BURNS
Patrick Burns brings a wealth of experience to the Miami Gallos franchise with over 20 years of coaching experience at both the amateur and professional level. Burns was a coach for the 1996 Olympic Boxing Team that brought home six medals, and he subsequently was named USA Boxing National Coach of the Year. Burns has been a USA Boxing Team Coach for over 30 international competitions, including World Championships. He went on to train numerous professional fighters, including former Undisputed World Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor. Well known in Miami for his involvement in boxing, Burns was responsible for developing the City of Miami Police Boxing Program which he oversaw for 13 years.
Prior to joining the Miami Gallos, Joseph Burns served as a strength and conditioning coach to accomplished boxers such as Jermain Taylor, Phillip Jackson, Lamar Murphy, Ed Parades, Wilfredo Rivera, John Duddy, Antwone Smith, Hector Camacho, Tiger Jones, and Danny Santiago. His responsibilities included developing and implementing programs on strength training, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility for amateur through world champion professional fighters. Under brother Patrick, Burns was part of the team that guided Jermain Taylor to an Undisputed Middleweight Championship. Burns has 10 consecutive years of involvement in world title fights to his credit. From 1988 to 1996, he was also part of the USA Olympic Team acting as liaison between Team USA and the USSR team. FRANCISCO “ANGEL” NAZARIO
Patrick Burns, Head Coach
Former professional boxer, Francisco “Angel” Nazario, brings 29 years of boxing experience to the Miami Gallos. As an amateur fighter, Nazario was a Sunshine States Games and State Golden Gloves Champion. He later transitioned into a formidable amateur trainer, where for the past eight years he has been a Level 2 Coach and Referee with USA Boxing. He has been highly involved with training boxers at the National and Olympic level, with experience working with elite boxers from both the USA and Puerto Rico. Nazario also contributes to the Miami community by running the “Gloves Not Guns” program developed by USA Boxing as a way to serve atrisk youth. At the professional level, Nazario is a Certified Professional Trainer in the State of Florida with the Florida Boxing Commission, the Seminole Boxing Commission and Miccosukee Boxing Commission.
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 37
MIAMI GALLOS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Paulo CARVALHO (BRA) 0-2 Luis Miguel DIAZ (DOM) 2-4 Jose Luis MEZA (ECU) 1-2 Daniel MOLINA (USA) 0-1 LIGHTWEIGHT Leonid MALKOV (UKR) 1-2 Adrian MARTINEZ (USA) 0-4 Roberto NAVARRO (DOM) 2-3 MIDDLEWEIGHT Anthony CAMPBELL (USA) 0-2 John Joe JOYCE (IRL) 0-2 Felix RODRIGUEZ (USA) 0-2 William WILLIAMS (USA) 4-1 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Kenneth EGAN (IRL) 2-1 Ahmed A. ELBIALI (EGY) 1-1 Sijuola Ade SHABAZZ (USA) 2-3 HEAVYWEIGHT Donovan DENNIS (USA) 2-1 Paul Gene KOON III (USA) 2-0 Craig LEWIS (USA) 0-5 Trent RAWLINS (AUS) 2-0
MIAMI GALLOS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
23.11.2010 26.11.2010 09.12.2010 17.12.2010 05.01.2011 13.01.2011 30.01.2011 13.02.2011 18.02.2011 27.02.2011 03.03.2011 17.03.2011
Miami Memphis Miami Mexico City Miami Los Angeles Los Angeles Miami Mexico City Miami Memphis Miami
3-2 4-1 3-2 4-1 4-1 4-1 5-0 2-3 4-1 1-4 3-2 4-1
Los Angeles Miami Mexico CIty Miami Memphis Miami Miami Memphis Miami Mexico City Miami Los Angeles
MIAMI GALLOS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
3
14
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
4
8
12
23
37
0
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 39
ASTANA ARLANS
MANAGEMENT The Astana Arlans are owned by the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation (KBF). The KBF is the sport’s national governing body and unites 14 regional federations with a total of around 20,000 registered boxers. The team is named after the alpha male wolf—the leader of the pack— an animal that has been admired and respected for centuries by the nomads of the Great Steppe for its intelligence, strength and courage.
VENUES DAULET SPORTS COMPLEX The Daulet Sports Complex is located in Astana Central Park. It offers fully equipped modern facilities and has a capacity of 2700. The venue has a strong boxing pedigree, having previously hosted the 2010 Asian Women’s Championships, as well as the Kazakhstan President’s Cup in 2010.
As a national governing body, the KBF is responsible for all the administration, development and promotion of amateur boxing throughout Kazakhstan. The KBF is a non-profit organisation and is thus overseen by a board of directors. The Astana Arlans team is managed by a dedicated team of staff under General Director Bolat Mankenov, with Head Coach Beibut Yeszhanov overseeing the sporting side of things. Team website: www.astanaarlans.com
DOSTYK SPORTS COMPLEX The Dostyk Sports Complex in Almaty is the second home to the Astana Arlans. With a capacity of 1000, the complex has hosted boxing tournaments, dance competitions, volleyball games, etc. Dostyk Sports Complex, Venue
HEAD COACH: BEIBUT YESZHANOV
ASSISTANT COACH: OLEG KOVALCHUK
Beibut Yeszhanov, born July 10, 1962 in Karaganda, trained under the honored coach of the USSR, Leonid Tleubayev. Yeszhanov boxed from 1976-1988 and from 1990-1993. Some of his major achievements include winner of the USSR Youth Games (1982), USSR Champion (1986), European Championship Medalist (1983) and World Cup Silver Medalist (1983).
Oleg Kovalchuk was born on June 17, 1950 in a Zharma village in the Zharminsky region of East Kazakhstan. During his time as a boxer, he was a 3 time winner of the Youth Republic Championships from 1966-1968. He was also winner of the All-USSR Olympic Hope Tournament (1967, Riga); Bronze Medalist at the Spartak Tournament (1967, Petrozavodsk); winner of the Spartak Tournament in the youth category (1968, Shaktinsk); and winner of the 10th All-USSR School Games ‘Spartakiada’ (1968, Leningrad). He was honored with the title Master of Sport of USSR in 1968 and Honored Coach of the Kazakh SSR in 1988.
Bolat Mankenov, Management
Oleg Kovalchuk, Assistant Coach
Beibut Yeszhanov, Head Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 41
ASTANA ARLANS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Kanat ABUTALIPOV (KAZ) 9-0 Bagdad ALIMBEKOV (KAZ) 1-1 Mirzhan RAKHIMZHANOV (KAZ) 2-3 Nurlan SEITIMBETOV (KAZ) 0-1 LIGHTWEIGHT Merey AKSHALOV (KAZ) 4-3 Yerzhan MUSSAFIROV (KAZ) 7-2 Azamat SMAGULOV (KAZ) 1-0 MIDDLEWEIGHT Miras BAIRKHANOV (KAZ) 0-1 Alibi NURMATOV (KAZ) 2-0 Bakhyt SARSEKBAYEV (KAZ) 4-3 Kanat SLAM (KAZ) 5-1 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Ramzjon AHMEDOV (UZB) 5-1 Maxwell AMPONSAH (GHA) 1-1 Marat MOLDAGEREYEV (KAZ) 5-2 HEAVYWEIGHT Sardor ABDULLAEV (UZB) 2-3 Istvan BERNATH (HUN) 2-0 Ruslan MYRSATAYEV (KAZ) 4-2 Milutin STANKOVIC (SRE) 1-2
ASTANA ARLANS RESULTS WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1
20.11.2010
Astana
5-0
Pohang
2
27.11.2010
Astana
1-4
Baku
3
11.12.2010
Astana
4-1
Beijing
4
18.12.2010
Beijing
0-5
Astana
5
08.01.2011
Baku
3-2
Astana
6
15.01.2011
Astana
5-0
Pohang
7
28.01.2011
Pohang
2-3
Astana
8
05.02.2011
Baku
3-2
Astana
9
19.02.2011
Beijing
1-4
Astana
10
27.02.2011
Astana
5-0
Beijing
11
12.03.2011
Astana
5-0
Baku
12
19.03.2011
Pohang
2-3
Astana
ASTANA ARLANS FINAL SEASON RANKING RANK
POINTS
2
29
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
9
3
12
44
16
0
60
ASTANA ARLANS SEMI FINAL RESULTS DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
09.04.2011
Astana
4-1
Los Angeles
17.04.2011
Los Angeles
2-3
Astana
DATE
TEAM A
SCORE
TEAM B
7-8.05.2011
Paris
6-4
Astana
ASTANA ARLANS FINAL RESULTS
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 43
BAKU FIRES
MANAGEMENT Gilan Holding owns the Baku Fires. The holding’s activity covers almost all industries of the Azerbaijani economy, from the production of consumer goods from food and drink to CDs, construction and tourism. The holding’s structure also includes the GILAN professional football club that has been participating in the major league of the Azerbaijan championship since 2006. Baku Fires’ management team consists of General Manager Rizvan Genzhiyev, Sport Manager Gamzat Agaev, Administrative Manager Rustam Bagirov, and Secretary General Naghi Safarov. Team website: www.bakufires.az
VENUE OLYMPIC SPORTS CENTER “SERHEDCHI” The Baku Fires home venue is the Olympic Sports Center “Serhedchi.” With a capacity of 3,000, it is one of the largest facilities built in recent years in Azerbaijan. It consists of fields and courts for various sports, a swimming pool and hotel facilities. In total, 32 sports can be practiced at the same time. The complex was the venue for the AIBA President’s Cup in 2009 and the Youth World Boxing Championships in 2010.
HEAD COACH: GAMZAT AGAYEV Head coach Gamzat Agayev took over as the new head coach for Baku Fires when former Coach Yevgeniy Kotov was named head coach of the Azerbaijani national team. Gamzat Agayev is best known as manager of former WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov.
Rizvan Genzhiyev, Management
Gamzat Agayev, Head Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 45
BAKU FIRES
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Mogamed ABDULHAMIDOV (AZE) 6-1 Rahim NAJAFOV (AZE) 2-0 Tugstsogt NYAMBAYAR (MGL) 3-2 LIGHTWEIGHT Ramal AMANOV (AZE) 2-2 Gaybatulla GADZHIALIYEV (AZE) 1-0 Semen GRIVACHEV (RUS) 2-1 Koba PKHAKADZE (GEO) 1-5 MIDDLEWEIGHT Osman ALIYEV (AZE) 1-1 Botirjon MAHMUDOV (UZB) 0-2 Soltan MIGITINOV (AZE) 4-2 Mahamed NURUDZINAU (BLR) 3-1 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Rizvan ALIMURADOV (AZE) 1-3 Ramazan MAGOMEDAU (AZE) 4-0 Denys POYATSYKA (UKR) 1-3 HEAVYWEIGHT Abdulkadir ABDULLAYEV (AZE) 2-0 Sergey KHARITONOV (RUS) 1-1 Beka LOBJANIDZE (GEO) 1-2 Magomedrasul MEDZHIDOV (AZE) 6-1
BAKU FIRES RESULTS
WEEK 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
DATE 20.11.2010 27.11.2010 11.12.2010 18.12.2010 08.01.2011 15.01.2011 29.01.2011 05.02.2011 19.02.2011 26.02.2011 12.03.2011 19.03.2011
HOME Baku Astana Baku Baku Baku Beijing Beijing Baku Baku Pohang Astana Baku
SCORE 5-0 1-4 4-1 4-1 3-2 2-3 2-3 3-2 2-3 0-5 5-0 5-0
AWAY Beijing Baku Pohang Pohang Astana Baku Baku Astana Pohang Baku Baku Beijing
BAKU FIRES FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
1
31
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
10
2
12
41
19
0
60
BAKU FIRES SEMI FINAL RESULTS
DATE 09.04.2011 15.04.2011
HOME Baku Paris
SCORE 4-1 5-0
AWAY Paris Baku
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 47
BEIJING DRAGONS
VENUES THE VENETIAN MACAO RESORT HOTEL The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel plays a crucial role in making Macao one of Asia’s most exciting entertainment destinations and preeminent convention and exhibition venues. Large enough to hold ninety Boeing 747 jumbo jets, nowhere else in Asia is there such a combination of facilities, attractions and amenities than at this 3,000 suite flagship property.
MANAGEMENT The Beijing Dragons are owned by Yeland Boxing Club. Yeland (Beijing) Boxing Club Co., Ltd. was established by Yeland Group Ltd. and the China Boxing Industry Group (CBIG). Yeland Group Ltd. is a rapidly expanding real estate company. The goal of Yeland Boxing Club is to promote the sport of boxing throughout the world and in China.
MACAO FORUM Located in the ZAPE district of Macao, the Macao Forum is a large, multi-purpose venue dedicated to cultural, recreational and sports events. It was inaugurated on 27 May 1985, underwent reconstruction in 1999 and is nowadays under the management of the IACM. Over the years, the Macao Forum is one of the most favored venues in Macao for holding events of assorted nature.
The management team consists of General Manager Li Houqiang and Deputy General Manager Yuan Zhihong.
The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Venue
HEAD COACH:
WU XIAOSONG
ASSISTANT COACHES:
ZHANG ZHIJIE
ZHU XIAOJUN
CUI XIANGQING
Yuan Zhihong, Management
Wu Xiaosong, Head Coach
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 49
BEIJING DRAGONS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Zhiwei HE (CHN) 2-4 Shaofang LUO (CHN) 2-4 LIGHTWEIGHT Lei FANG (CHN) 0-6 Zhimin WANG (CHN) 6-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT Pedro LIMA (BRA) 4-1 Xuezhi JIAO (CHN) 0-1 Wei LIU (CHN) 1-3 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Assane FAYE (SEN) 0-5 Wei ZHANG (CHN) 0-4 HEAVYWEIGHT Xiangyang CHENG (CHN) 0-2 Zhihua MA (CHN) 0-5 Awusone YEKENI (GHA) 1-3
BEIJING DRAGONS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
20.11.2010 27.11.2010 11.12.2010 18.12.2010 08.01.2011 15.01.2011 29.01.2011 05.02.2011 19.02.2011 27.02.2011 12.03.2011 19.03.2011
Baku Beijing Astana Beijing Pohang Beijing Beijing Pohang Beijing Astana Beijing Baku
5-0 3-2 4-1 0-5 4-1 2-3 2-3 2-3 1-4 5-0 3-2 5-0
Beijing Pohang Beijing Astana Beijing Baku Baku Beijing Astana Beijing Pohang Beijing
BEIJING DRAGONS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
3
11
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
3
9
12
16
44
0
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 51
POHANG POSEIDONS
MANAGEMENT
VENUES
The Pohang Poseidons, owned by Agro & Oil International (Dubai), works closely with the City of Pohang. The city has agreed to support the team by providing it with headquarters, a training facility and match venues. The city also promotes the team’s home matches.
POHANG INDOOR SPORT GYMNASIUM The Pohang Indoor Sport Gymnasium is located in Pohang City. It can seat 5000 spectators and was home to the Pohang Poseidons for half of their matches in the 2010-2011 season.
The management team consists of Managing Director Yuldashev Sardor, General Manager Jung Jae Kyu, Event Director BK Kim, Sports Coordinator Gunn Lee, and Marketing Director Jason Kim.
SEOUL EDUCATION AND CULTURE CENTER Seoul Education and Culture Center is located in Yangjaedong, Seocho-gu district. The center has one basement floor and eleven floors above ground. Its main facilities include the Main Theater, Culture Center, Art Exhibit, Education Promotion Center, and Sports Center. The Sports Center has an indoor gymnasium, a swimming pool, health and aerobic rooms, a bowling alley, and a golf practice range. The facilities here are used primarily as a resting area.
Team website: www.pohangposeidons.com
HEAD COACH: MARS KUCHKAROV Mars Kuchkarov hails from Uzbekistan but is no stranger to coaching in an East Asian country. Kuchkarov coached the Taiwanese National Team from 2003-2004 and coached the Chinese National Team from 2004-2007. He returned to coach the Taiwanese National team in 2009-2010 before joining the Pohang Poseidons as head coach.
Mars Kuchkarov, Head Coach
ASSISTANT COACH: ALISHER ABDULLAEV Alisher Abdullaev of Uzbekistan coached the Uzbekistan Olympic University boxing squad from 1998-2003. He has trained three World Championships Bronze Medalists, two World Junior Championships Gold Medalists, one Asian Games Gold Medalist and one Olympic Games Bronze Medalist.
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 53
POHANG POSEIDONS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Juseong KIM (KOR) 1-2 Lukasz Adam MASZCZYK (POL) 0-6 Dongsik SEO (KOR) 0-3 LIGHTWEIGHT Jongsub BAIK (KOR) 2-2 Dojae LEE (KOR) 0-2 Bahodirjon SULTONOV (UZB) 2-4 MIDDLEWEIGHT Victor COTIUJANSCHII (MDA) 1-5 Andranik HAKOBYAN (ARM) 0-1 Kyucheol LEE (KOR) 0-4 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Abdelhafid BENCHABLA (ALG) 7-0 Reece PAPUNI (NZL) 0-2 Ahrorbek QOORBONOV (UZB) 1-3 HEAVYWEIGHT Chouaib BOULOUDINATS (ALG) 3-2 Mihail MUNTEAN (MDA) 3-3
POHANG POSEIDONS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
20.11.2010 27.11.2010 11.12.2010 18.12.2010 08.01.2011 15.01.2011 28.01.2011 05.02.2011 19.02.2011 26.02.2011 12.03.2011 19.03.2011
Astana Beijing Baku Baku Pohang Astana Pohang Pohang Baku Pohang Beijing Pohang
5-0 3-2 4-1 4-1 4-1 5-0 2-3 2-3 2-3 0-5 3-2 2-3
Pohang Pohang Pohang Pohang Beijing Pohang Astana Beijing Pohang Baku Pohang Astana
POHANG POSEIDONS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
4
11
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
2
10
12
19
41
0
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 55
ISTANBUL ISTANBULLS
VENUES AHMET CÖMERT SPOR SALONU Ahmet Cömert Spor Salonu or the Ahmet Comert Sports Hall is a sports arena where basketball and boxing matches take place. The hall is the home stadium for the Galatasaray Wheelchair Basketball Team and has a capacity of 2200 people. Various other sporting events, including many international fixtures, have also taken place at this venue.
MANAGEMENT Saran Media is the owner of the Istanbulls. Founded in 1990, the company provides services in all aspects of media such as TV content production, events management, sports and entertainment rights distribution and broadcasting in Turkey. Istanbulls’ management team is made up of CEO Kenan Saran, Managing Director Selim Usta, Sport Director Birol Topuz, Team Coordinator Umut Isik, and International Liaison Evren Marlali. Team website: www.istanbulls.org
DARUSSAFAKA AYHAN SAHENK SPORTS HALL The Darussafaka Ayhan Sahenk Sports Hall is an indoor arena located which can seat up to 3500 spectators and is home to the Darüşşafaka Cooper Tires, Galatasaray women’s basketball team, Galatasaray Café Crown, Efes Pilsen basketball team and now the Istanbulls.
HEAD COACH: TUNCAY VAROL Tuncay Varol is an Istanbul native who is regarded as one of the most successful active coaches in Turkey. He has dedicated most of his life to boxing and has achieved many titles at national level. He was selected to represent Turkey on the national team for 32 matches. After retiring in 1991, he joined the boxing department of Fenerbahçe, a multi-sports team located in Istanbul, as a young coach. There he went on to develop the talent of many of Turkey’s best boxers, including team manager Birol Topuz himself.
Tuncay Varol, Head Coach
ASSISTANT COACH: SEYFULLAH DUMLUPINAR Dumlupınar won several medals as a boxer for the national team. Unfortunately, he had to retire at the age of 21, in an early stage of his career due to an injury. Following his retirement, Dumlupınar started his coaching career in 1992 and had trained 15 boxers for the national team. He participated in the World and European Championships, Mediterranean Games and 2008 Olympic Games and won over 20 rostrum places with the athletes under his coaching. In recent years, 10 of his boxers have been selected for the national team.
Selim Usta, Management
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 57
ISTANBUL ISTANBULLS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Ciprian APODARESEI (ROU) 1-1 Abdullah DURSUN (TUR) 0-2 Selcuk EKER (TUR) 1-4 Mehmet TOPCAKAN (TUR) 3-0 LIGHTWEIGHT Bunyamin AYDIN (TUR) 0-3 Shafiq CHITOU (BEN) 0-3 David Oliver JOYCE (IRL) 2-0 Redouane KAYA (SWE) 1-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT Omer Faruk POLAT (TUR) 0-1 Herry SALIKU BIEMBE MARCO (SUI) 0-1 Onder SIPAL (TUR) 1-2 Onur SIPAL (TUR) 2-2 Evren TIBUKOGLU (TUR) 0-2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Murat BAYAZIT (TUR) 0-1 Constantin BEJENARU (ROU) 0-1-1 Enrico KOLLING (GER) 4-1 Sergiy LAPIN (UKR) 0-3 Onder OZGUL (TUR) 0-1 HEAVYWEIGHT Mohammed ARJAOUI (MAR) 3-2 Remzi OZBEK (TUR) 0-1 Oleksiy SIVKO (UKR) 4-1
ISTANBULLS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
20.11.2010 26.11.2010 10.12.2010 17.12.2010 07.01.2011 14.01.2011 28.01.2011 04.02.2011 18.02.2011 25.02.2011 11.03.2011 19.03.2011
Moscow Istanbul Istanbul Paris Milan Istanbul Istanbul Milan Paris Istanbul Istanbul Moscow
3-2 3-2 2-3 4-1 4-1 3-2 4-1 3-1 4-1 2-3 3-2 3-2
Istanbul Milan Paris Istanbul Istanbul Moscow Moscow Istanbul Istanbul Paris Milan Istanbul
ISTANBULLS FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
3
16
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
4
8
12
25
34
1
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 59
DOLCE & GABBANA MILANO THUNDER VENUE PALASHARP PalaSharp is an indoor arena in Milan. The arena can seat 8479 people and has hosted a diverse array of events including concerts, musicals, sports events and shows of all sorts. PalaSharp prides itself on innovation and constantly hosts up-and-coming superstars to cater to its audience.
MANAGEMENT Boxe in Progress Srl. is the owner of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder. The owners are private investors from different sports marketing and sports media agencies who have been involved in promoting professional boxing programs. Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder’s management team is comprised of President Silvia Hrubinova, CEO Paolo Taveggia, COO Claudio Ballor, and General Secretary Mara Zappala. Team website: www.wsbmilano.com
Silvia Hrubinova, Management
HEAD COACH: FRANCESCO DAMIANI
ASSISTANT COACHES: SERGIY KORCHYNSKYY
Damiani took Silver at the 1982 AIBA World Championships in Munich and Silver at the 1984 Olympic Games for Italy. He was also crowned European Gold Medalist in Tampere (Finland) in 1981 and in Varna (Bulgaria) in 1983. He fought 140 matches as an amateur boxer before turning professional in 1985. He was the first boxer to hold the WBO heavyweight title. He fought 34 matches, with a record of 32 wins and 2 losses. Since he became national coach of Italy, his athletes have achieved great results:
GIANFRANCO ROSI
1 Bronze Medal at the Athens Olympic Games 1 Silver Medal at the Chicago World Boxing Championships in 2007 2 Gold Medals at the Milan World Boxing Championships in 2009 1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 61
DOLCE & GABBANA MILANO THUNDER BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Jahyn Vittorio PARRINELLO (ITA) 2-1 Vincenzo PICARDI (ITA) 2-1 Vitaliy VOLKOV (UKR) 3-2 LIGHTWEIGHT Vazgen SAFARYANTS (BLR) 4-0 Domenico VALENTINO (ITA) 4-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT Sergiy DEREVYANCHENKO (UKR) 6-0 Diego DI LUISA (ITA) 0-1 Eamon John O’KANE (IRL) 3-0 Luca PODDA (ITA) 1-2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Bosko DRASKOVIC (MNE) 1-1-1 Nikolajs GRISUNINS (LAT) 0-4-1 Entoni JURIC (CRO) 0-1 Thomas Edward MCCARTHY (GBR) 0-2 HEAVYWEIGHT Damir BELJO (BIH) 0-1 Clemente RUSSO (ITA) 7-0 Gilton Benjey ZIMMERMAN (AHO) 3-2
DOLCE & GABBANA MILANO THUNDER RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
19.11.2010 26.11.2010 11.12.2010 17.12.2010 07.01.2011 14.01.2011 28.01.2011 04.02.2011 18.02.2011 26.02.2011 11.03.2011 18.03.2011
Milan Istanbul Moscow Milan Milan Paris Paris Milan Milan Moscow Istanbul Milan
3-2 3-2 2-3 4-0 4-1 4-1 2-3 3-1 5-0 3-2 3-2 4-1
Paris Milan Milan Moscow Istanbul Milan Milan Istanbul Moscow Milan Milan Paris
DOLCE & GABBANA MILANO THUNDER FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
2
27
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
8
4
12
36
22
2
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 63
MOSCOW KREMLIN BEARS
VENUE BARVIKHA LUXURY VILLAGE The Barvikha Luxury Village is a high-end shopping center with an elite concert hall that hosts various events. The concert hall is home to a large number of music festivals, concerts, shows, performances and events. Some of the world’s leading brands can be seen at Barvikha Luxury Village, such as Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Dolce&Gabbana, Tiffany, Bvlgari, Chopard, etc.
MANAGEMENT Ring Stars is the owner of the Moscow WSB franchise. It is an experienced Moscow-based sports event management company with experience in boxing events. The Kremlin Bears’ management team is headed up by President Yury Fedorov. Team website: www.ringstars.ru
HEAD COACH: ZOLKIN ALEXANDER
ASSISTANT COACH: HUSANOV JAHONGIR
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 65
MOSCOW KREMLIN BEARS
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Alikhan AVTORKHANOV (RUS) 2-2 Rafik MAGERRAMOV (RUS) 0-1 Alisher MAHMUDOV (UZB) 0-3 Grigoriy NIKOLAYCHUK (RUS) 0-1 LIGHTWEIGHT Adlan ABDURASHIDOV (RUS) 3-1-1 Ziyodulla HADIYATULLAEV (UZB) 1-3 Valery PLYASKIN (RUS) 0-1 MIDDLEWEIGHT David ARUSTAMYAN (RUS) 0-2 Yusup MAGOMEDBEKOV (RUS) 0-1 Evgeny MYAKININ (RUS) 0-1 Sukhrab SHIDAEV (RUS) 3-0 Movsur YUSUPOV (RUS) 0-2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Mansur ELSAEV (RUS) 0-1 Ali MUSAEV (RUS) 2-0 Denis TCARIUK (RUS) 0-2-1 Zhavlonbek USMANOV (KGZ) 3-1 HEAVYWEIGHT Sherip DAUDOV (RUS) 0-2 Vitaly KUDUKHOV (RUS) 1-0 Arslanbek MAKHMUDOV (RUS) 0-1 Sergo POGOSYAN (RUS) 0-2
MOSCOW KREMLIN BEARS RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
20.11.2010 26.11.2010 11.12.2010 17.12.2010 08.01.2011 14.01.2011 28.01.2011 05.02.2011 18.02.2011 26.02.2011 11.03.2011 19.03.2011
Moscow Paris Moscow Milan Moscow Istanbul Istanbul Moscow Milan Moscow Paris Moscow
3-2 5-0 2-3 4-0 1-4 3-2 4-1 2-3 5-0 3-2 4-0 3-2
Istanbul Moscow Milan Moscow Paris Moscow Moscow Paris Moscow Milan Moscow Istanbul
MOSCOW KREMLIN BEARS SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
4
12
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
3
9
12
17
41
2
60
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 67
PARIS UNITED
VENUES HALLE GEORGES CARPENTIER Founded in 1960 and renovated in 1988, Halle Georges Carpentier, named after the famous boxer, is one of the most reputed sports venues in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It has a large multipurpose room and has facilities for basketball, volleyball, handball, tennis, badminton, gymnastics, fencing and more. Halle Georges Carpentier can accommodate up to 4272 spectators and hosts hundreds of sporting events each year.
MANAGEMENT Paris United was set up by Olympic Champion Brahim Asloum (Sydney 2000), who is working together with skilled professionals specialised in sport events and PR management. Asloum is in charge of managing boxers’ careers and identifying new talent with the help of the FFB (French Federation of Boxing).
PALAIS DES SPORTS MARCEL CERDAN Palais des Sports Marcel Cerdan, located in Levallois, is named after the boxer Marcel Cerdan. Since its opening, it welcomes more than fifty events every year including sport competitions, exhibitions, forums, banquets, business conventions, concerts, plays and many more.
Team website: www.paris-united.com
Brahim Asloum, Management
HEAD COACH: KEVINN RABAUD Kevinn Rabaud was born on 30 July 1974 in the coastal town of Honfleur, near the Channel port of Le Havre. His association with elite boxing at the national level in France dates back to 2004, when he helped prepare the French national squad for the Athens Olympic Games.
Kevinn Rabaud, Head Coach
ASSISTANT COACHES: LUIS MARIANO GONZALES Assistant coach Luis Mariano Gonzales brings his past experience as coach of the National Boxing Federation of Cuba to Paris United. He has been a member of the French Federation of Boxing since 2007. JOHN DOVI John Dovi, Assistant Coach
Assistant coach John Dovi, born 2 February 1973, has been a member of the French Federation of Boxing since 2008.
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 69
PARIS UNITED
BOXERS BANTAMWEIGHT Giorgi KILANAVA (GEO) 0-3 John Joseph NEVIN (IRL) 4-1 Nordine OUBAALI (FRA) 6-1 LIGHTWEIGHT Rachid AZZEDINE (FRA) 7-0-1 Abdelkader CHADI (ALG) 0-2 Radouane FARHANY (FRA) 0-1 Artur SCHMIDT (GER) 2-3 MIDDLEWEIGHT Stéphane CUEVAS (FRA) 0-5 Michel TAVARES (FRA) 5-1 Alexis VASTINE (FRA) 3-0 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Abdelkader BOUHENIA (FRA) 1-0 Ludovic GROGUHE (FRA) 6-1 Hrvoje SEP (CRO) 6-2 HEAVYWEIGHT Filip HRGOVIC (CRO) 5-1 Zied JOUINI (FRA) 0-3 Tony YOKA (FRA) 4-3
PARIS UNITED RESULTS
WEEK
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
1
19.11.2010
Milan
3-2
Paris
2
26.11.2010
Paris
5-0
Moscow
3
10.12.2010
Istanbul
2-3
Paris
4
17.12.2010
Paris
4-1
Istanbul
5
08.01.2011
Moscow
1-4
Paris
6
14.01.2011
Paris
4-1
Milan
7
28.01.2011
Paris
2-3
Milan
8
05.02.2011
Moscow
2-3
Paris
9
18.02.2011
Paris
4-1
Istanbul
10
25.02.2011
Istanbul
2-3
Paris
11
11.03.2011
Paris
4-0
Moscow
12
18.03.2011
Milan
4-1
Paris
PARIS UNITED FINAL SEASON RANKING
RANK
POINTS
1
29
MATCHES
BOUTS
WINS
LOSSES
TOTAL
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL
9
3
12
39
20
1
60
PARIS UNITED SEMI FINAL RESULTS
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
09.04.2011
Baku
4-1
Paris
15.04.2011
Paris
5-0
Baku
PARIS UNITED FINAL RESULTS
DATE
TEAM A
SCORE
TEAM B
7-8.05.2011
Paris
6-4
Astana
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 71
SEMI-FINALS 1ST LEG ASTANA AND BAKU BOTH TAKE CONTROL The home teams won both of the first-leg semi-finals as the Astana Arlans beat Los Angeles Matadors 4-1 at the Daulet Sports Complex in Astana and the Baku Fires overcame Paris United with the same score at the Serhedchi Olympic Sports Complex in Baku.
Things then started to unravel for the visitors as the home team’s Merey Akshalov pulled ahead in the early stages of the lightweight contest against Brazil’s Everton Lopes after dominating the first two rounds. Lopes’ response in the third and fourth was not strong enough and Akshalov finished with a win by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46).
ASTANA ARLANS 4 LOS ANGELES MATADORS 1 Coach Many Robles’ decision to travel with his strongest squad had always seemed a risk, but Rau’Shee Warren’s early victory suggested that it was a good choice. The 2007 AIBA World Champion got the evening off to a good start for the visitors with a close win against relative newcomer Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov in the bantamweight contest (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).
Kanat Slam, bronze medalist for China at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, continued the home team’s onslaught. After dominating the first round with 10-8 scores from all three judges, he finished off the visitor’s Russell Lamour in the second round of their middleweight encounter to win by technical knock-out. In the closest bout of the evening, a late response by the Matadors’ “Ukraine Pain Train” Vyacheslav Shabranskyy brought him to within only a point of Ramzjon Ahmedov (Uzbekistan). But it was this single point that clinched the match for Astana Arlans, as Ahmedov’s 48-47, 4847, 48-47 win put the home team 3-1 ahead before the heavyweight contest. Kazakhstan’s home-grown Beijing Olympian Ruslan Myrsatayev sealed the match for the Arlans with a spectacular fourth-round knock-out against David Imoesiri in the heavyweight finale.
BAKU FIRES 4 PARIS UNITED 1 Brahim Asloum clearly favored the opposite tactic of the Los Angeles Matadors, sending his more inexperienced boxers - at least in the lower weight divisions - for their first leg away match against the Baku Fires. Georgia’s Georgi Kilanava opened the proceedings for Paris at the Serhedchi Olympic Sports Center in Baku against the more experienced Magomed Abdulhamidov - one of only two Azeri boxers on the evening’s card for the home team. Despite a spirited performance by the Georgian the home boxer pulled away to take a win by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).
Tony Yoka is the youngster of the Paris side but at 18 years old he already has two international medals to his name - a silver at the 2010 AIBA Youth World Championships and gold at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Unfazed by the 4-1 record of his opponent Magomedrasul Medzhidov, who finished second in the individual rankings to qualify for the Individual Championships, Tony Yoka showed maturity and skill against a tough opponent in the heavyweight finale. But a standing count for Yoka in the third round made the difference, handing Medzhidov the decision (50-44, 48-46, 47-48) and leaving the final score 4-1 to the Baku Fires.
The lightweight bout saw 2008 Olympian Abdelkader Chadi from Algeria make his début for the visitors against Russia’s Semen Grivachev of the Baku Fires, who was only contesting his third WSB bout this season. Grivachev opened up an early lead that became difficult for Chadi to counter in the closing rounds and won out by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46). Paris United’s Stephane Cuevas lasted only two rounds against Mahamed Nurudzinau (Belarus). The middleweight contest was stopped in the third round by the referee, who handed Nurudzinau the semi-final victory by TKO-I. Ludovic Groguhe came into his light heavyweight bout against Denys Poyatsyka (Ukraine) unbeaten but Poyatyska matched him evenly through three rounds before the Frenchman opened up a lead in the closing stages. The fight finished on a split decision in Groguhe’s favor (49-46, 49-46, 47-48).
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 73
SEMI-FINALS 2ND LEG PARIS UNITED EXTINGUISH BAKU FIRES AND ASTANA ARLANS DISMISS LA MATADORS PARIS UNITED 5 BAKU FIRES 0 An unequal fight opened the night between Nordine Oubaali of Paris United and Tugstsogt Nyambaar of the Baku Fires. The young but experienced French bantamweight showed a clean and precise style of boxing as announced. Nyambayar had trouble countering in the face of the tremendous support the home boxer enjoyed. Oubaali confirmed his status as one of the revelations of the World Series of Boxing with a win by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47). The second bout between unbeaten Rachid Azzedine of Paris United and Koba Pkhakadze was not a tight affair either. Motivated after his last fight in Paris ended in a technical draw that dashed his individual title chances, Azzedine was very tense during the opening minutes of the lightweight bout and barely managed to box his usual style in the first round. Thereafter, the Frenchman pressured his opponent and managed to connect with his face and liver several times. Azzedine then recovered his style and displayed his best skills on the way to victory by another unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 49-46). Michel Tavares then faced Soltan Migitinov of the Baku Fires. Tavares took a psychological advantage after some nice combinations to the body in the third round and a tired Migitinov had to resort to wild swings in the closing stages, but to no avail. Tavares took a third straight win by unanimous decision for Paris United (50-45, 48-47, 49-46). This brought the cumulative scores level. Hrvoje Sep of Paris United faced Rizvan Alimuradov of the Baku Fires in the light heavyweight contest. Baku was now in danger and the visitors badly needed a victory. In the closest fight of the evening there was little
to separate the two boxers, who fought closely, often in the clinch, each one trying to pick up individual points wherever he could. The judges’ decision was as close as the bout itself: 48-47, 45-50, 48-47. A split decision in favor of the Croatian. In the heavyweight encounter, Sep’s compatriot and Youth World Champion, 19-year-old Filip Hrgovic, faced Sergey Kharitonov, a well-known Russian fighter with previous experience in mixed martial arts, K1 and kickboxing. Hrgovic stood his ground and used his height and reach advantage to good effect and even had the Russian boxer unsteady on his legs in the fourth round. After another three minutes, Hrgovic triumphed on a split decision (49-46. 47-48. 49-46) and put Paris United in the final.
LOS ANGELES MATADORS 2 ASTANA ARLANS 3 Fernando Martinez started strong in the bantamweight opener and came out the aggressor against undefeated Kanat Abutalipov. In the third round, Abutalipov began to find the rhythm that led to his undefeated regular season and would control the Martinez attack with his technique and counterpunches. Martinez work over the first two rounds was enough to make the bout close and force a split decision, but Abutalipov prevailed with a 4946, 48-47, 47-48 victory. In the lightweight division, baby-faced Eric Flores faced perhaps the most formidable foe of his young amateur career in Yerzhan Mussafirov, who entered the ring undefeated in six WSB regular season matches. Despite Mussafirov’s ring experience, Flores’ speed would provide the biggest advantage as he was able to penetrate the strong defense of the Astana fighter and secure a 48-47, 49-45, 49-45 unanimous decision.
Brazil). But Passos wasn’t able to score enough the rest of the way as Moldagereyev rebounded nicely to control the last four rounds and walk away with the 48-47, 4847, 48-47 decision. The Moldagereyev victory secured the semi-final win for the Arlans and assure them a spot in the WSB Finals. Much like their match at the WSB Test Event a year ago, Javier Torres and Istvan Bernath, were locked in a contentious heavyweight battle that would end in a split decision judgment. Once again it would be Bernath getting the better of Torres in the end as the Hungarian fighter would dictate the fight with his style and reach to earn the win, 48-47, 48-47, 47-48.
Middleweight Chris Pearson asserted himself as a top Matador fighter in no time, getting the call in the season’s second half to help provide the team’s most important victories of late. Pearson used his long reach and determination to frustrate the powerful, aggressive Olympic champion Bakhyt Sarsekbayev. The turning point in the bout was in the third round, with Pearson opening up a cut to the left side of Sarsekbayev’s head with a vicious hook. That slowed Sarsekbayev enough to allow Pearson to earn a split-decision victory, 50-45, 49-46, 47-48. In the light heavyweight division, Marat Moldagereyev was staggered midway through the first round from a wide left-hook from Matador Elber Passos (Salvador,
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB FRANCHISES - 75
TEAM FINALS
YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 77
HOST CITY GUIYANG CITY, GUIZHOU - CHINA Guiyang is the capital city of Guizhou Province, located in South-West China. The city is on the north bank of the Nanming River, at the elevation of 1100 meters. Guiyang is called the “Forest City� with its unique natural scenery surrounded by dense forests. The city population is approximately 3 million. Guiyang is the economic and commercial hub of Guizhou Province, with a rich history dating back to 1300 AD when the city was built during the Yuan Dynasty. Its sights include Hongfeng Lake (Red Maple Lake), Huangguoshu Waterfall (third largest in the world), Huaxi Park and an abundance of historical relics of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In April 2010 Guiyang hosted the inaugural China Open Boxing Tournament. More than 200 boxers from 20 national federations participated in the boxing meet, which was the first-ever China-based international boxing tournament sanctioned by the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA).
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 79
TEAM FINALS RECAP PARIS UNITED COMES FROM BEHIND TO EARN FIRST WSB TEAM TITLE In order to showcase the uniqueness of the World Series of Boxing in the inaugural season for the new league, organizers had hoped that the four league playoff teams would thrill audiences near and far with a brand of boxing unseen before in the long, storied history of the sport. Well, after a 6-4 thrilling win by Paris United in the team final against a tough Astana Arlans squad in Guiyang China, the marquee event of the WSB season helped put a glossy finish on what could be considered the next chapter in the annals of boxing history. To ascend to the top of the WSB in year one would prove mentally and physically exhausting, with grit and determination deciding the ultimate as just one team would be left holding the prized WSB Team Championship Trophy in the end. For Paris United, a team conceived by 2000 Olympic champion Brahim Asloum, it wasn’t enough for them to rally from a 4-1 deficit against the Baku Fires in semi-final action just to get into the finals. Furthermore, this resilient team wouldn’t be stopped despite trailing 3-2 and entering the final night faced with the prospects of boxing with a fighter who hadn’t stepped in the ring in two months due to weight issues and putting in the ring another fighter with no WSB bouts under his belt the entire season. But when the finals had concluded, those two fighters, John Joe Nevin and Abdelkader Bouhenia, would indeed help bring home the first ever WSB team title to Paris United. The United’s determination in the end showcased that the WSB team is stronger than any one individual boxer and that a team format in the individual world of boxing can indeed work and flourish.
Youth World Champion Filip Hrgovic from Croatia, the youngest boxer in the finals at 18 years of age, and Sardor Abdullaev from Uzbekistan, the tallest at 201cm and the heaviest at 120kg, didn’t know it when they entered the ring, but the winner of their heavyweight contest would ultimately decide who would become the WSB World Champion. Hrgovic was happy to keep his opponent at arm’s length and claim points from precise jabs and combinations from the in-fight, while Abdullaev seemed to be looking for one killer punch. Abdullaev’s tactics paid off in the first round, but after that the young Croatian’s discipline and movement won out as he stormed through the remaining four rounds to a 48-47, 49-46, 48-47 victory and the world title for Paris United. “It’s not the first time I’ve had this kind of pressure on my back,” Hrgovic said. “But I thought to myself, I have to do it for the team.” Paris United pocketed a cheque for 500,000 US dollars in addition to the coveted WSB Team Championship trophy. But more importantly, the WSB post-season demonstrated the type of heated competition that the WSB had in mind when it began a new league.
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 81
TEAM FINALS CONTESTING TEAMS & BOXERS ASTANA ARLANS
The Astana Arlans qualified for the semi-finals as the best second placed team overall, two points clear of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder, who had been hot on the Arlans’ heels for most of the season. In the tough Asian conference, the Astana Arlans had the same number of points as European conference leader Paris United, but won more individual bouts overall (44 compared to 39 for Paris United). In the semi-finals, the team had to withstand an all-out assault from the Los Angeles Matadors in the first leg at the home ring Daulet Sports Complex in Astana, with the Matadors sending their strongest team on the long journey. But that night, 2007 World Champion Rau’Shee Warren was the only Los Angeles boxer able to edge ahead to a win as the 24 year-old southpaw took a split decision victory. After that, the home boxers showed their strength, with only half of the remaining four bouts going the full distance. Mighty Kanat Slam, the Beijing bronze medallist from China who assumed Kazakh nationality to join the team, once again proved unstoppable as he achieved his third win within four rounds this season.
On the return leg in Los Angeles, the Astana Arlans were undaunted by the star-studded line-up of Hollywood celebrities cheering on the home boxers. Nevertheless the match was much closer. After 2009 World Championship quarter-finalist Kanat Abutalipov opened the scoring for the visitors to extend his unbeaten record for the season, the Matadors replied with two consecutive wins to keep their hopes of qualification alive. But once light heavyweight Marat Moldagereyev took the light heavyweight contest by unanimous decision, it was left to Istvan Bernath to seal the Astana Arlans qualification for the WSB finals.
ASTANA ARLANS BOXING SQUAD FOR TEAM FINALS
BANTAMWEIGHT - 54 KG
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT - 85 KG
Kanat ABUTALIPOV (KAZ) Mirzhan RAKHIMZHANOV (KAZ)
LIGHTWEIGHT - 61 KG
Merey AKSHALOV (KAZ) Yerzhan MUSSAFIROV (KAZ)
Ramzjon AHMEDOV (UZB)
Marat MOLDAGEREYEV (KAZ)
HEAVYWEIGHT - 91+ KG
Ruslan MYRSATEYEV (KAZ) Sardor ABDULLAEV (UZB)
MIDDLEWEIGHT - 73 KG
Bakhyt SARSEKBAYEV (KAZ)
Kanat SLAM (KAZ)
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 83
TEAM FINALS CONTESTING TEAMS & BOXERS PARIS UNITED
Throughout the regular season, Paris United was chased by Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder in the European conference. In fact, all of the team’s three losses in the regular season were against the Milan team. But Paris United’s unbeaten record against all the other teams in the conference put them in first place after all twelve matches - two points and one win ahead of Milan. Paris United won the draw and chose to contest their first semi-final match against the Baku Fires away. Algerian lightweight Abdelkader Chadi had the honour of making his WSB debut in this match, but light heavyweight Ludovic Groguhe was the only Paris boxer to emerge still unbeaten in Baku after the individual championship contender dismissed European championship semifinalist Denys Poyatsyka of the Ukraine. Although Paris United lost the first leg 4-1, Brahim Asloum had plenty of talent in reserve for the crucial second leg in Paris, including no. 2 bantamweight Nordine Oubaali and no. 3 lightweight Rachid Azzedine. These two stars got the home team off to an early lead with two wins by unamimous decisions. Michel Tavares
then notched up a third consecutive win for the team to bring the cumulative scores level and set his two Croatian team-mates Hrvoje Sep and Filip Hrgovic up for a thrilling finale. As Sep scored a fourth win for the home team, Paris United had one foot in the finals, leaving Youth World Champion Filip Hrgovic to face Russian Sergey Kharitonov, who had only made his WSB debut in week 12 but is well known as a former international MMA star. The 18 year-old Hrgovic was totally unfazed by the power and experience of his 30 year-old opponent, however. He not only withstood the mighty onslaught from the Russian heroically but also repeatedly counterattacked, using his superior height and reach to great effect. After an exhausting 15 minutes of battle, Hrgovic won the bout by split decision in a fitting conclusion to a night of superlative boxing in Paris.
PARIS UNITED BOXING SQUAD FOR TEAM FINALS
BANTAMWEIGHT - 54 KG
John Joe NEVIN (IRL)
Giorgi KILANAVA (GEO)
LIGHTWEIGHT - 61 KG
Hrvoje SEP (CRO)
Rachid AZZEDINE (FRA) Abdelkader CHADI (ALG)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT - 85 KG
Abdelkader BOUHENIA (FRA)
HEAVYWEIGHT - 91+ KG
Filip HRGOVIC (CRO)
Tony YOKA (FRA)
MIDDLEWEIGHT - 73 KG Stephane CUEVAS (FRA)
Michel TAVARES (FRA)
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 85
TEAM FINALS RESULTS
6
4
(1405)
(1415)
DAY 1 - 06 May 2011
DAY 2 - 07 May 2011 BANTAMWEIGHT - 54 kg
-
Giorgi KILANAVA
Kanat ABUTALIPOV
WP
WP
John Joseph NEVIN
WP 2:1
Mirzhan RAKHIMZHANOV
-
WP 3:0
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
49:46
Judge 1
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
50:45
47:48
Judge 2
9:10
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
50:45
47:48
Judge 3
9:10
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
50:45
LIGHTWEIGHT - 61 kg WP
Rachid AZZEDINE
Merey AKSHALOV
-
WP
Abdelkader CHADI
WP 3:0
Yerzhan MUSSAFIROV
-
WP 0:3
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
49:46
Judge 1
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
47:48
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
48:47
Judge 2
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
9:10
46:49
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
48:47
Judge 3
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
9:10
46:49
DAY 1 - 06 May 2011
DAY 2 - 07 May 2011 MIDDLEWEIGHT - 73 kg
-
Stephane CUEVAS
Kanat SLAM
TKO
WP
Michel TAVARES
Bakhyt SARSEKBAYEV
TKO R1: 01’47’’
-
WP 3:0
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
TKO
-
-
-
-
50:35
Judge 1
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
49:46
TKO
-
-
-
-
50:35
Judge 2
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
48:47
TKO
-
-
-
-
50:35
Judge 3
9:10
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
48:47
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT - 85 kg -
Hrvoje SEP
Ramzjon AHMEDOV
WP
WP
Abdelkader BOUHENIA
WP 2:1
Marat MOLDAGEREYEV
-
WP 3:0
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
47:48
Judge 1
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
50:45
48:47
Judge 2
10:9
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
49:46
46:49
Judge 3
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
50:45
HEAVYWEIGHT - +91 kg WP
Tony YOKA
Ruslan MYRSATAYEV
-
WP
Filip HRGOVIC
WP 2:1
Sardor ABDULLAEV
-
WP 3:0
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Total
10:9
10:9
9:10
10:9
9:10
48:47
Judge 1
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
48:47
10:9
10:9
9:10
10:9
9:10
48:47
Judge 2
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
49:46
10:9
9:10
9:10
10:9
9:10
47:48
Judge 3
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
48:47
WSB YEARBOOK: TEAM FINALS - 87
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 89
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP FIVE BOXERS EARN SPOTS FOR THE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES For a boxer, there is no greater reward in the sport than representing your country at the Olympic Games, and for the 200-plus WSB boxers who laced up the gloves in the inaugural season of the WSB, it was the opportunity to compete for this prize that proved to be most alluring. Never before in the history of boxing could a fighter earn a salary, benefits, prize money, receive top training and competition and yet still be eligible to compete at the Olympic Games. The only caveat to doing so would prove too much for all but five superior fighters in the end as the intensity of a 12-week season, the quest for a league title and the WSB play-offs would certainly take its toll on the best of the best the WSB had to offer. Ten fighters came to the WSB Individual Finals in Guiyang, China with a legitimate shot at becoming the first-ever WSB Champions and securing the first of five qualification spots for boxing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. As if the regular season wasn’t enough the individual finalists had an extra challenge to overcome. For the first time they would box over seven, three minute rounds rather than the team competition’s usual five. The Astana Arlans, Baku Fires, Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder and Paris United were all represented by two boxers at the Individual Championships, with the remaining two boxers being Algerian light heavyweight Abdelhafid Benchabla from Korea’s Pohang Poseidons and China’s Zhimin Wang from the Beijing Dragons. The Americas conference was the only one without any representative in the Individual Championships.
Kanat Abutalipov of the Astana Arlans secured the first Olympic qualification place for Kazakhstan on a split decision (68-65, 66-67, 67-66) against France’s Nordine Oubaali of Paris United in a furious opening bout that set the pace for the Individual Championships in the bantamweight championships bout.
Algeria’s Abdelhafid Benchabla, who boxes for the Pohang Poseidons won a title with a consummate display against France’s Ludovic Groguhe of Paris United in the light heavyweight contest. He took the WSB world title with a win by unanimous decision (69-64, 68-65, 6865).
To the delight of the home crowd it was China’s Zhimin Wang who emerged victorious after a heated lightweight encounter against Kazakhstan’s Yerzhan Mussafirov of the Astana Arlans. The world title victory by a close split decision (67-66, 67-66, 66-67) more than compensated for Wang losing to Mussafirov in the WSB regular season - his only loss this season.
In the heavyweight contest between Italy’s 2007 AIBA World Champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Clemente Russo of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder and Azerbaijan’s Magomedrasul Medzhidov of the Baku Fires, it was Russo earning the second individual title for the Milano Thunder with a unanimous decision (67-66, 67-66, 67-66).
Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder earned a unanimous decision over his Azeri opponent Soltan Migitinov of the Baku Fires (68-64, 68-64, 69-63) after seven punishing rounds from which both boxers emerged sporting battle scars.
The five WSB Individual Champions were awarded a cheque for 20,000 US dollars, the WSB titleholder’s belt and all receive a quota place for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 91
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS BANTAMWEIGHT RANKING The final ranking in the WSB bantamweight division at the end of the 2010-2011 regular season was as follows: WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL BOUTS
PTS
!
0
0
6
795
0
0
0
0
5
739
0
1
0
1
0
6
864
0
1
0
0
0
0
4
593
0
2
2
1
0
1
0
5
713
0
4
3
1
2
0
2
0
6
864
0
Istanbulls
3
3
0
0
0
0
0
3
444
0
Paris United
3
1
2
1
1
0
0
4
583
0
Baku Fires
3
1
2
1
0
1
0
4
571
0
Mexico City Guerreros
3
2
1
1
0
1
0
4
576
0
RANK
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
TEAM
1
ABUTALIPOV
Kanat
2
OUBAALI
Nordine
3
ABDULHAMIDOV
Magomed
4
WARREN
5
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
Astana Arlans
6
3
3
0
0
Paris United
5
2
3
0
Baku Fires
5
5
0
Raushee
Los Angeles Matadors
4
3
MARTINEZ
Fernando
Los Angeles Matadors
4
6
AVILA
Braulio
Mexico City Guerreros
7
TOPCAKAN
Mehmet
8
NEVIN
John Joseph
9
NYAMBAYAR
Tugstsogt
10
EMIGDIO
Elias
BANTAMWEIGHT FINALISTS KANAT ABUTALIPOV
NORDINE OUBAALI
Kanat Abutalipov was born on March 22, 1983 in Barshino, Kazakhstan. He never dreamed of becoming a boxer but was noticed while playing football and was invited to train in boxing. At 13 years old, he won a junior boxing tournament in Karaganda. Abutalipov reached the quarterfinals at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy in 2009 and competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. His 2011 WSB regular season record was 6-0 and he won his team semi-final and team final fights.
Nordine Oubaali was born on August 4, 1986 in Lens, France. Almost all of his 17 brothers and sisters are boxers so it was natural for him to enter the ring at a young age. Oubaali won a bronze medal in the light flyweight division at the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships and competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In the WSB regular season, he won six straight fights and finished ranking second in the bantamweight division.
VS
Kanat ABUTALIPOV (KAZ)
AGE
28
24
166 cm
HEIGHT
165 cm
Southpaw
STANCE
Southpaw
8 – 0 (8 WP)
WP
Nordine OUBAALI (FRA)
WSB RECORD
6 – 0 (1 TKO, 5 WP)
Kanat ABUTALIPOV
Nordine OUBAALI
-
WP 2:1 R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
Total
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
68:65
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
66:67
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
10:9
9:10
67:66
Bantamweight Individual Champion Kanat Abutalipov of Astana Arlans saw the Individual Championship as more important, more challenging and psychologically more demanding than his other fights. During his fight, Abutalipov used his experience and coach’s advice to defeat his opponent Nordine Oubaali. “Thinking and analyzing after each bout helped me gain experience and improve my skills throughout the season.” He sees his win as “revenge for Astana Arlans for losing to Paris United in the team finals” but admits that he would have liked to throw some better punches during the match.
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 93
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS LIGHTWEIGHT RANKING The final ranking in the WSB lightweight division at the end of the 2010-2011 regular season was as follows: WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL BOUTS
PTS
!
0
0
6
882
0
1
0
0
6
781
0
0
0
0
1
6
745
0
2
0
0
0
0
4
594
0
3
1
1
0
1
0
5
738
0
4
3
1
1
1
0
0
5
687
0
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder
4
4
0
1
0
1
0
5
592
0
Los Angeles Matadors
3
1
2
0
0
0
0
3
446
0
Adlan
Kremlin Bears
3
2
1
1
0
1
1
5
578
2
Merey
Astana Arlans
3
2
1
2
0
2
0
5
640
0
RANK
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
TEAM
1
MUSSAFIROV
Yerzhan
2
WANG
3
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
Astana Arlans
6
3
3
0
0
Zhimin
Beijing Dragons
5
4
1
1
AZZEDINE
Rachid
Paris United
5
5
0
4
SAFARYANTS
Vazgen
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder
4
2
5
FOWLER
Eric
Los Angeles Matadors
4
6
WILLIAMS
Raynell
Memphis Force
7
VALENTINO
Domenico
8
LOPES
Everton
9
ABDURASHIDOV
10
AKSHALOV
LIGHTWEIGHT FINALISTS YERZHAN MUSSAFIROV
ZHIMIN WANG
25-year-old Yerzhan Mussafirov was little known on the international boxing scene before he joined the World Series of Boxing. The only international AIBA competition he participated in before joining the WSB was the 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy. Mussafirov has proven to be a great boxing talent in the WSB. He won six straight victories during the regular season and finished first in the individual ranking. The only loss Mussafirov saw before the 2011 Individual Championships was to Eric Flores of the Los Angeles Matadors during the team semi-finals.
Zhimin Wang started boxing as a young boy after watching professional boxing matches. He confessed that his greatest fear is controlling his weight and making the weight before every fight. During the regular season, Wang went 5-1 with only one loss to Yerzhan Mussafirov of the Astana Arlans. Wang was the only Beijing Dragons boxer to qualify for the 2011 Individual Championships.
VS
Yerzhan MUSSAFIROV (KAZ)
AGE
25
-
Zhimin WANG (CHN) 25
168 CM
HEIGHT
170 CM
ORTHODOX
STANCE
ORTHODOX
7 – 1 (7 WP)
WSB RECORD
5 – 1 (5 WP)
Yerzhan MUSSAFIROV
Zhimin WANG
WP
WP 1:2 R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
Total
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
66:67
9:10
9:10
10:9
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
66:67
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:9
67:66
Zhimin Wang won the lightweight Individual Championship with his strategy—“stand firmly, fight steadily, avoid faults and control the tempo.” Wang also admitted “the home country advantage and the audiences’ support helped [him] a lot.” He knew he had prepared and trained for the fight and he had to believe in himself. Wang’s victory was extremely important in promoting the WSB and his team, the Beijing Dragons, in China as well as providing his teammates with inspiration.
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 95
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKING The final ranking in the WSB middleweight division at the end of the 2010-2011 regular season was as follows: RANK
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL BOUTS
PTS
!
0
0
5
638
0
0
0
0
4
592
0
1
1
0
0
5
698
0
3
1
0
1
0
5
729
0
3
1
1
0
1
0
5
730
0
4
4
0
1
1
0
0
5
716
0
Mexico City Guerreros
4
4
0
2
1
1
0
6
867
1
Terrell
Memphis Force
4
4
0
2
1
1
0
6
860
0
VASTINE
Alexis
Paris United
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
3
443
0
SHIDAEV
Sukhrab
Kremlin Bears
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
3
360
0
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
1
DEREVYANCHENKO
Sergiy
2
MIGITINOV
3
TEAM
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder
5
2
3
0
0
Soltan
Baku Fires
4
2
2
0
SARSEKBAYEV
Bakhyt
Astana Arlans
4
0
4
4
LIMA
Pedro
Beijing Dragons
4
1
5
LAMOUR
Russell
Los Angeles Matadors
4
6
WILLIAMS
William
Miami Gallos
7
FLORENTINO
Yamaguchi
8
GAUSHA
9 10
MIDDLEWEIGHT FINALISTS SERGIY DEREVYANCHENKO
SOLTAN MIGITINOV
Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder was born on October 31, 1985 in Ukraine. He has had extensive experience in amateur boxing, including two AIBA World Championships appearances in 2007 and 2009 and an Olympic Games appearance in Beijing in 2008. In the World Series of Boxing, Derevyanchenko adapted to the professional boxing style with ease. He won all five of his bouts during the regular season, starting and finishing with technical knock-outs against Stéphane Cuevas (Paris United) and Onur Sipal (Istanbulls).
Soltan Migitinov of the Baku Fires went into the WSB believing that the WSB competition is a great initiative from AIBA for both the boxers and boxing fans. At the end of the 2011 regular season, he was certain of it. Migitinov finished second in the WSB middleweight category with a record of 5-0 in the regular season. He was the only boxer to have defeated the powerful Kanat Slam of the Astana Arlans. Migitinov’s only loss came during the team semifinals against Michael Tavares of Paris United. Win or lose, Migitinov saw every bout as a lesson and experience to improve and as an incentive to perform better.
Sergiy DEREVYANCHENKO (UKR)
VS AGE
25
22
174 CM
HEIGHT
175 CM
ORTHODOX
STANCE
ORTHODOX
5 – 0 (2 TKO, 3 WP)
WP
Soltan MIGITINOV (AZE)
WSB RECORD
4 – 1 (2 TKO, 2 WP)
Sergiy DEREVYANCHENKO
Soltan MIGITINOV
-
WP 3:0 R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
Total
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
10:9
10:08
68:64
10:9
9:10
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:08
68:64
10:9
9:10
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:08
69:63
Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder believed his win and teammate Clemente Russo’s win in the Individual Championships “certainly compensated for not getting to the team finals.” Derevyanchenko’s motivation during the fight was “to leave [the ring] as a winner. This is my main motivation in every match, not only in this case.” The Olympic qualification awarded to the winner also provided him with extra incentive when he began to lose physical strength during the fight.
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 97
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKING The final ranking in the WSB light heavyweight division at the end of the 2010-2011 regular season was as follows: WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL BOUTS
PTS
!
0
0
6
825
1
0
0
0
5
743
0
1
1
0
0
6
874
0
2
0
0
0
0
4
585
0
1
3
1
1
0
0
5
720
0
4
2
2
1
0
1
0
5
716
0
Los Angeles Matadors
4
3
1
1
1
0
0
5
642
0
Memphis Force
3
2
1
1
1
0
0
4
585
0
Zhavlonbek
Kremlin Bears
3
2
1
1
0
1
0
4
584
0
Ramzjon
Astana Arlans
3
2
1
1
0
1
0
4
576
0
RANK
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
1
BENCHABLA
Abdelhafid
2
GROGUHE
3
TEAM
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
Pohang Poseidons
6
2
4
0
0
Ludovic
Paris United
5
3
2
0
SEP
Hrvoje
Paris United
5
1
4
4
MAGOMEDAU
Ramazan
Baku Fires
4
2
5
MOLDAGEREYEV
Marat
Astana Arlans
4
6
KOLLING
Enrico
Istanbulls
7
SHABRANSKYY
Vyacheslav
8
SZELLO
Imre
9
USMANOV
10
AHMEDOV
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT FINALISTS ABDELHAFID BENCHABLA
LUDOVIC GROGUHE
In November 2010, Abdelhafid Benchabla stepped apprehensively into the WSB ranks, unsure of his future. At the end of the season, he had won all six of his fights and was the number one light heavyweight in the WSB. Benchabla was born on September 26, 1986 in Zemmouri, Algeria. He began boxing at the age of eight, following the examples of his four older brothers who all developed boxing careers. But it was his father who was always the biggest boxing fan and who encouraged all his sons to train as boxers from an early age. Benchabla followed the entire set of courses at boxing schools, from junior to youth and then to senior. His wellstructured boxing path allowed him to join the ranks of the world’s top amateur boxers and achieve success in the WSB.
Paris United’s Ludovic Groguhe marked his official bout records with the French Boxing Federation when he was only 15 years old. Groguhe has since picked up medals at numerous international tournaments including the 28th Box-Am Tournament and the 4th Mohamed VI Trophy in Morocco. Groguhe gave a hint of his capabilities before his formal debut in the WSB when he defeated Sijoula Shabazz from the United States in the WSB test event in Baku, Azerbaijan. Since then, the young Frenchman has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the WSB’s light heavyweight division. He finished the regular season unbeaten after six fights in the competitive European conference.
Abdelhafid BENCHABLA (ALG)
AGE
24
24
185 CM
HEIGHT
186 CM
ORTHODOX
STANCE
ORTHODOX
6 – 0 (1 TKO, 5 WP) WP
Ludovic GROGUHE (FRA)
VS
WSB RECORD
6 – 0 (2 TKO, 4 WP)
Abdelhafid BENCHABLA
Ludovic GROGUHE
-
WP 3:0 R1 10:9 10:9
R2 10:9 10:9
R3 10:9 9:10
R4 10:9 10:9
R5 9:10 10:9
R6 10:9 10:9
R7 10:9 9:10
Total 69:64 68:65
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
10:9
68:65
Abdelhafid Benchabla returned to Algeria to a hero’s welcome after winning the WSB Individual Championships. The Pohang Poseidons light heavyweight describes the Individual Championships as “simply awesome” and according to him, his preparatory work on reaction speed and execution speed with the Algerian national team was what made the difference against Ludovic Groguhe in the fight. Benchabla expressed how important this victory is for his country and for boxing in Algeria because with more boxing champions, “boxing will continue to be supported by the government.”
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 99
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS HEAVYWEIGHT RANKING The final ranking in the WSB heavyweight division at the end of the 2010-2011 regular season was as follows: RANK
WINS
LOSSES
TD
TOTAL BOUTS
PTS
!
0
0
6
821
1
0
0
0
5
747
0
1
0
1
0
6
876
0
2
1
1
0
0
5
730
2
1
2
1
0
1
0
4
578
0
3
2
1
1
0
1
0
4
584
0
Mexico City Guerreros
3
3
0
1
1
0
0
4
568
0
Chouaib
Pohang Poseidons
3
1
2
2
0
2
0
5
726
0
ARJAOUI
Mohammed
Istanbulls
3
2
1
2
0
2
0
5
709
0
ZIMMERMAN
Benjey
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder
3
2
1
2
1
1
0
5
701
4
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
1
RUSSO
Clemente
2
MEDZHIDOV
Magomedrasul
3
IMOESIRI
David
4
SIVKO
Oleksiy
5
HRGOVIC
6
TEAM
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
TOTAL
HOME
AWAY
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder
6
3
3
0
0
Baku Fires
5
3
2
0
Los Angeles Matadors
5
4
1
Istanbulls
4
2
Filip
Paris United
3
MYRSATAYEV
Ruslan
Astana Arlans
7
HIRACHETA
Juan
8
BOULOUDINATS
9 10
HEAVYWEIGHT FINALISTS CLEMENTE RUSSO
MAGOMEDRASUL MEDZHIDOV
2007 91kg World Champion and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games silver medalist Clemente Russo of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder went into the 2011 WSB Individual Championships with an undefeated 6-0 record. Born in Marcianise, Italy on July 27, 1982, Russo started boxing in order to lose weight. Russo boxed in many international amateur tournaments before he won the World Champion title in 2007. He was the first Italian to win the gold medal in the heavyweight division. Russo’s style is unusual for a heavyweight—he moves a lot, circles his opponent, and throws punches only when he is sure to hit the target and does not aim for a knockout.
His name was almost unknown to boxing fans but nevertheless, the Russian-born Magomedrasul Medzhidov of the Baku Fires defeated seven different opponents in the inaugural WSB season before the Individual Championships. Medzhidov began boxing at 19 years old under his cousin Magomed Abdusalamov, a two-time Russian champion. After Medzhidov won an international tournament in July 2009, Baku Fires coach Gamzat Agayev recruited him to the team. Medzhidov spent two months in Miami where he was trained by renowned coach and former world champion John David Jackson.
AGE
28
24
185 CM
HEIGHT
190 CM
ORTHODOX
STANCE
ORTHODOX
6 – 0 (1 TKO, 5 WP)
WP
Magomedrasul MEDZHIDOV (AZE)
VS
Clemente RUSSO (ITA)
WSB RECORD
6 – 0 (1 KO, 5 WP)
Clemente RUSSO
Magomedrasul MEDZHIDOV
-
WP 3:0 R1 10:9 10:9
R2 10:9 10:9
R3 10:9 9:10
R4 10:9 10:9
R5 9:10 9:10
R6 9:10 9:10
R7 9:10 10:9
Total 67:66 67:66
10:9
10:9
10:9
10:9
9:10
9:10
9:10
67:66
After a long season and exhausting Individual Championship fight, Clemente Russo of Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder emerged as the heavyweight Individual Champion. Before the fight, Russo’s “main goal was to be athletically prepared in order to be ready for seven rounds.” Despite the preparation, the seven rounds proved to be gruelling and a difficult challenge for Russo and his opponent Magomedrasul Medzhidov. “I didn’t expect to be so strengthless in the final part of the match but I could see that my opponent was really tired too,” Russo said.
WSB YEARBOOK: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 101
WSB OFFICIALS YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEAROOK: WSB OFFICIALS - 103
SUPERVISORS
BESSALEM Abdallah (ALG)
KUSIOR Adam (POL)
BISBAL Osvaldo (ARG)
NARSI Kishen (IND)
BOSELLI Luis (BRA)
RANZE Helmut (GER)
ERKUYUMCU Garip (TUR)
SHBIB M. Kamel (SYR)
FALCINELLI Franco (ITA)
SILVAS Ray (USA)
FIACCO Pasquale (CAN)
SMITH Terry (WAL)
JUNG Jae Kyu (KOR)
VIRGETS Tom (USA)
RINGSIDE DOCTORS & MEDICAL STATISTICS MEDICAL STATISTICS
LIST OF WSB RINGSIDE DOCTOR:
• 75% of fights did go the full distance
MEDIABDULLAYEV Zaur (AZE) CARUSILLO Daniel Joseph (USA) CRESTE Laurent (FRA) DINCER Mehmet derya (TUR) DINCER Osman (TUR) FIELDS Alan (USA) GENTRY Jim (USA) GURBANOV Elkhan (AZE) GURCAN Ali (TUR) KESGIN Gökçe (TUR) KIM Viktor (KAZ) LLOUQUET Jean-louis (FRA) LO Jeff (CHN) LO Kam Leong (MAC) MACCHIAROLA Giuseppe (ITA) MAZAUD Alain (FRA) MAZZONE Mariano (ITA) MOKHTAR BENOUNNANE Amine (FRA) MUI Chong Seong (MAC) MUI Larry (CHN) NEVERKOVICH Alexander (RUS) NIKOLAEV Valeriy (RUS) ORNELAS Rafael (MEX) PARK Hyun Sung (KOR) PIRAS Giovanni Luigi (ITA) PRIRODOV Alexander (RUS) RYZHENKOVA Yelena (KAZ) STIMPSON Keith (USA) WRIGHT Brad (USA) YIN Yu (CHN)
• Less than 4% of fights were stopped because of cuts • Less than 14% of fights ended by KO/TKO/TKO-I which are similar numbers to AIBA major competitions
WSB AND AIBA COMPARISON* Total Bouts WSB AIBA
390 533
TKO
TKO-I
38 (9.7%) 40 (7.4%)
8 (2%) 6 (1.5%)
(AB+RSC+RSCH)
* Comparison between WSB 1st Season and the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan
WSB MEDICAL INJURIES (1st season) ASIA
EUROPE
20 (16%)
27 (22%)
28 (23.3%)
75 (20.8%)
0 (0%)
2 (1.7%)
3 (2.5%)
5 (1.4%)
Total cuts during bout
12 (10%)
24 (20%)
16 (13%)
52 (14%)
Bout stopped because of cut
5 (4.2%)
15 (13%)
3 (2.5%)
23 (6.4%)
Total injuries during bout Bout stopped because of injury except cuts
AMERICAS TOTAL
* Based on WSB 2010-2011 Inaugural Season
WSB YEAROOK: WSB OFFICIALS - 105
WSB REFEREES AND JUDGES
APA Enrico (ITA)
BONET ORTIZ Jose (PUR)
FEREBEE Larry (USA)
GORNY Mariusz POL
KAIGORODOV A. (MDA)
ASANAU Siarhei (BLR)
BOUGIOUKAS E. (GRE)
GALLAGHER M. W. (IRL)
JUMANIYAZOV B. (UZB)
KARAKULOV M. (UKR)
BASI Mik (ENG)
BRAHAM Mohamed (TUN)
GERMAIN Tony (CAN)
JUST Rene (SVK)
KELLY Seamus (IRL)
KOWLI Jay Suresh (IND)
LICINI Enrico (ITA)
LABBE Roland (CAN)
MORLEY R. (ENG)
SCHARMACH F. (GER)
VILLARREAL A. (USA)
SERVIDE Roberto (ARG)
WEBB Ricky (USA)
TADIC Martin (CRO)
BEDEMANN Claus (DEN)
POGGI Gerardo (ARG) LLAURADO D. (USA)
LAINE J.-Robert (FRA)
RYSBAYEV R. (KAZ) MADFOUA Fathi (FRA)
BROVIL Lars (DEN) CINAR Yasar (TUR) KENNEDY Jones (BRA)
WSB YEAROOK: WSB OFFICIALS - 107
WSB SPONSORS YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: SPONSORS - 109
KAZSTROYSERVICE PRESENTING SPONSOR
KazStroyService Group was the presenting sponsor for the World Series of Boxing 2010-2011 season. The company has differentiated itself as a technologydriven engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company with a substantial presence in Kazakhstan, India, Turkmenistan, and in the high potential markets of the Middle East. The company has a workforce of over 25,000 from 17 different nationalities including numerous specialists in their respective fields.
KSS’s involvement in the World Series of Boxing as presenting sponsor brought the company almost 20 million US dollars in advertising equivalent value, through their presence on the composite logo featured on the entrance arch and ring “toblerones” used at all matches throughout the season. TOTAL KSS EXPOSURE 2010-2011 TOBLERONE KSS
$552’356
ENTRY ARCH
$278’297
Total
$830’653
TOTAL KSS MEDIA VALUE 2010-2011 TOBLERONE KSS
$1’404’237
ENTRY ARCH
$1’252’899
Total
$2’657’136
TOTAL KSS AD EQUIVALENCY VALUE 2010-2011 TOBLERONE KSS ENTRY ARCH
Total
$12’528’993 $7’021’184 $19’550’177
Source : Kantar Sports media evaluation, July 2011
WSB YEARBOOK: SPONSORS - 111
TOP TEN OFFICIAL GLOVE SUPPLIER
TopTen is a long-standing partner of AIBA, the International Boxing Association, for whom it is an Official Equipment Supplier. Budoland (TopTen) was the Official Glove Supplier for the inaugural season of the World Series of Boxing (WSB). TopTen supplied all 12 WSB franchise teams with gloves for all matches in the first season. TopTen has provided no fewer than 1000 specially designed WSB competition gloves (8oz for bantamweight and lightweight, 10oz for middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight), together with the matching 1000 pairs of handwraps.
Top Ten’s gloves gained the equivalent of nearly 30 hours of screen time through the World Series of Boxing’s international TV coverage, generating an advertising equivalency value for over 2 million US dollars. TOTAL TOP TEN EXPOSURE
103,700 second (28:48:20)
TOTAL TOP TEN MEDIA VALUE 2010-11
$406,458 TOTAL TOP TEN ADVERTISING EQUIVALENCY EXPOSURE 2010-11
$2,032,291
ASIA (50%)
EUROPE (48%)
AMERICAS (2%)
WSB YEARBOOK: SPONSORS - 113
WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA YEARBOOK - SEASON 2010-2011
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 115
WSB TV COVERAGE
Close to 50 million viewers in the first season Despite the challenge of launching a brand-new sporting property in a crowded marketplace, the WSB can look back on a successful season in terms of the television coverage that the series generated. With a host broadcaster agreement being a pre-requisite for the franchise agreements between the individual teams and the World Series of Boxing, TV coverage was guaranteed in all franchise markets. In addition, the World Series of Boxing sold rights in other territories, both individually and as regional packages. In addition to 10 host broadcasters in franchise territories, there were a total of 19 broadcasters showing the WSB in non-franchise territories.
The agreement with Eurosport Asia for pan-Asian coverage of the WSB, brought in eight million viewers alone and helped to contribute to the grand total of over 25 million viewers – with an average audience of 1 million – for the WSB in Asia, making it the conference with the biggest viewership overall, slightly ahead of Europe. The broadcast region defined as Europe actually extends beyond the usual geographic scope of Europe to include countries from North Africa and the Middle East, with a total of 17 broadcasters showing the WSB, from Ireland in the West to Russia in the East and Egypt in the South. The combined total viewership in Europe was 22 million. As the exclusive host broadcasters in the USA and Mexico respectively, Versus and Vme brought in a cumulative audience of 1.6 million from 134 hours of coverage. Asia showed 337 hours of WSB coverage, while Europe had triple the amount with 978 hours of coverage.
AMERICA
EUROPE
ASIA & AUSTRALIA
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 117
TV HOURS OF COVERAGE
TV TOURNAMENT COVERAGE Thanks to a total of 144 hours of coverage in Russia alone, Europe accounted for the largest amount of WSB match coverage by far, offering three times the coverage of Asia. One third of the total of 978 hours of coverage shown in Europe came from franchise territories, with non-franchise territories accounting for the remaining two thirds. The World Series of Boxing was broadcast in 29 different countries worldwide. As sole broadcaster in the USA, Versus accounted for all 134 hours of broadcasting the country.
AMERICAS 123:30:00
EUROPE (68%)
ASIA (23%)
AMERICAS (9%)
EUROPE 978:18:31
TOTAL TOURNAMENT COVERAGE (hh:mm:ss) 1450:43:41
ASIA 337:55:10
TV AUDIENCE
TV CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE China had the biggest average audience with over 350,000 viewers tuning in to watch WSB matches. Franchise territories where boxing is traditionally popular, such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, also pulled in around 150,000 viewers per match. The total cumulative audience of close to 50 million was split almost evenly between Europe and Asia and between franchise and non-franchise territories, with the special situation in the USA, where one broadcaster covers three franchises, accounting for the relatively low share of the global audience.
ASIA (51%) EUROPE (46%) AMERICAS (3%)
AMERICAS 1,656,428
Audience demographics show that the World Series of Boxing is watched predominantly by men over the age of 35 with middle incomes. EUROPE 22,722,234
ASIA 25,377,393
TOTAL TOURNAMENT AUDIENCE 49,756,055
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 119
TV COVERAGE AND AUDIENCE BY TERRITORY The World Series of Boxing’s total TV audience in the 2010-2011 season was 49 million. The breakdown by market can be seen below.
FRANCHISE
REGION
MARKET
TOTAL HOURS
CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE
Franchise Non Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Franchise
Asia Europe Asia Europe Europe Europe Europe
Azerbaijan Bosnia China Croatia France Hungary Italy
75:00:00 8:00:00 24:25:14 32:00:00 12:00:00 11:30:00 106:15:00
4'938'000 25'658 5'519'000 31'024 683'235 377'731 7'317'452
Franchise
Asia
Kazakhstan
37:04:56
2'073'100
Non Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Franchise Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise Non Franchise
Europe Americas Europe Asia Asia Asia Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Asia Europe Europe Americas Asia Asia Europe Europe Europe Asia
Macedonia Mexico Montenegro New Zealand Pan Asia Philippines Poland Romania Russia Serbia Slovenia Taiwan Turkey UK & Ireland United States Korea Vietnam Egypt / Pan Middle East Morocco Tunisia Singapore
32:00:00 26:00:00 8:00:00 12:00:00 34:15:00 32:00:00 50:01:40 9:22:51 144:45:00 32:00:00 32:00:00 52:00:00 60:24:00 130:45:00 108:30:00 31:10:00 36:00:00 133:45:00 60:00:00 115:30:00 4:00:00
38'080 261'406 3'234 33'427 8'101'262 2'164'728 567'426 566 550'400 151'928 38'696 612'070 34'180 66'000 1'395'022 534'292 1'396'560 10'302'000 131'154 2'403'469 4'955
GRAND TOTAL
1450:43:41
49'756'055
BY FRANCHISE TERRITORY
CONFERENCE
TOTAL HOURS OF COVERAGE
CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE
Americas
134:30:00
1'656'428
Asia
167:40:10
13'064'392
Europe
323:24:00
8'585'267
GRAND TOTAL
625:34:10
23'306'087
TOTAL HOURS OF COVERAGE
CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE
BY NON FRANCHISE TERRITORY
CONFERENCE Asia
170:15:00
12'313'001
Europe
654:54:31
14'136'966
GRAND TOTAL
825:09:31
26'449'968
CONFERENCE
TOTAL HOURS OF COVERAGE
CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE
Americas
134:30:00
1'656'428
TOTAL
Asia
337:55:10
25'377'393
Europe
978:18:31
22'722'234
GRAND TOTAL
1450:43:41
49'756'055
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 121
INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA
The existing website of the World Series of Boxing was upgraded prior to the start of the season to include full information of all teams. Furthermore, the database used by the WSB’s Competition Department was integrated into the website display to offer biographical information on the WSB boxers prior to the start of the season. This information was then automatically updated as the season progressed. The results system operated by Swiss Timing was also integrated into the website display, allowing WSB fans to follow live results of individual bouts from two different matches simultaneously and directly from the WSB homepage.
WSB was also very active in the field of social media, with its Facebook Page gaining over 6000 fans over the first season. Furthermore, photo-sharing platform Flickr proved an excellent way of making photos from WSB matches available to the media and the general public, with over 2000 photos available on the WSB Flickr page by the end of the season.
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 123
WSB PR IN NUMBERS
• • • • • • •
80 press releases in 9 months 217 website articles 800 photos on Flickr 46,000 YouTube video views 158,000 photo views on Flickr 260,000 website visitors 995,000 Facebook Page impressions
PRESS CLIPPINGS
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 125
PRESS CLIPPINGS
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 127
WSB TESTIMONIALS & QUOTES
“WSB is a very ambitious project, a major league comprised of 12 teams in three continents. I think the launch was very successful. The television productions were of high value, there is large media and spectator interest and the boxing itself was highly competitive and entertaining.” - Kenan Saran, the CEO of Istanbulls “WSB gives me an opportunity to do something that I love and to be paid for it. I am an athlete, I travel to compete and I get paid for it. It is great. Most professional fighters don’t even make a living out of boxing,” - Trent Rawlins, Heavyweight boxer for Miami Gallos
“This new concept has been realized thanks to the vision of AIBA President Wu to solve the problem of Olympic champions leaving the fold of their national federation to pursue professional boxing careers. Thanks to this initiative, the best boxers will have more continuity and competition with professional-style scoring but will still be able to participate at the forthcoming Olympic Games in London in 2012.” - Franco Falcinelli, President of the Italian Boxing Federation “I’m very, very supportive of the WSB and have been from its inception. I believe what makes it so important is that it’s going to eventually stop the exploitation of amateur boxers who move into the professional ranks by promoters who have no real interest in the livelihood or other support of the boxer. “Putting the emphasis on the organizations that have developed these boxers and have worked with them to protect them throughout their amateur careers and allowing that to continue through a professional career is not only in the best interest of the boxer himself but also in the best interest of boxing in general.” “What WSB is going to do is bring week after week the best of the best competing against each other. There is going to be a ranking system that comes out of it which will be based strictly on performance and it’s going to be credible.” - Tom Virgets, USA Boxing
Dr. C.K. Wu, WSB Chairman of Board and AIBA president
“The Croatian Boxing Federation has recognized the efforts of AIBA through the WSB to protect a boxer from professional managers and to simultaneously back at least part of the national federation’s investment in the boxer. Boxers are very important to us and we sadly watch as they enter professional waters full of optimism after their amateur career only to end up disappointed. This is not good for them, nor for boxing in general. Business is becoming visible in professional fighting, which destroys the reputation of our sport. We see the WSB as a solution to this problem. “We try to teach a boxer that they are part of a noble sport, and we directed them to the WSB because we believe that it is not only noble to participate, but that it is a special pride to be the champion and know that there aren’t several similar champion. “We believe in the WSB project and the hope that it will restore the popularity of boxing and give our athletes the opportunity to say, with pride, that they are boxers.” - Melita Lochert, General Secretary of the Croatian Boxing Federation
“Professional boxing in Brazil is at the worst possible level,” he said. “The World Series of Boxing will give boxers a chance and the motivation not just to compete but also to make some money. They obviously want to make it to the Olympic Games but they also have professional dreams. It’s also important for the Brazilian press to get the message that we have three - possibly more - boxers who could participate in the WSB, as this will give professional boxing an additional boost. We understand that professional boxing is big business but it is a business that only benefits two sides rather than the sport in general. The World Series of Boxing is different as it provides the missing link between professional and amateur boxing.” -- Mauro Jose da Silva, President of the Confederation Brasiliera de Boxe “A lot of people wish they could be in our shoes; they wish this could have happened years ago. When I talked to my coach, it was a great deal for me because I could still fight pro, get the experience and still go back to the Olympics and get my gold.” - Rau’Shee Warren, Bantamweight boxer for Los Angeles Matadors
“WSB as a whole and the scoring system in particular will save the image of boxing.” - Tony Germain, an R&J from Canada “WSB is the future of our sport and boxing needs this project in order to revive the sport of boxing.” - Seamus Kelly, Ireland R&J
“WSB is very different from what I did so far in boxing. I love the training. There is much more physical preparation, fitness, running, sparring. We need to be in excellent form to be prepared for each match. We train a lot and this is why I love it - I want to learn more and more.” - Everton Lopes, Lightweight Boxer for Los Angeles Matadors
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 129
WSB TESTIMONIALS & QUOTES
“To get involved in World Series of Boxing was first and foremost an opportunity for me to express myself in professional boxing. It was always my objective: to become a pro. Apart from the sport aspect of this new competition there was also a possibility to gain money even with the status of amateur boxer! At the end of this season I must say that I enjoyed this format and felt I found my place in it.” - Ludovic Groguhe, Light heavyweight boxer for Paris United
“The lead up to the Olympics Games and the Olympics themselves were an unforgettable experience. I was very proud to represent Ireland in Beijing. Boxing at Olympic level gives you the opportunity to test yourself against the best and World Series of Boxing will give me the same opportunity. All the people that didn’t want me to do this were an extra motivation for me to do it. I believe that the World Series of Boxing offers me a fantastic chance to improve myself as a boxer.” - John Joe Nevin, Boxer Paris United “This sport is going to advance now the way it should have advanced 25 years ago,”, explained to Maxboxing’s Gabriel Montoya recently. “It’s a great bridge [to the pros]. It’s kind of what the sport needed. Supply and demand, I guess. The sport really needs something that gives you something different, something unusual, out of the ordinary.” “When this tournament goes on, these kids are going to start sharing ideas. They are going to start talking on Twitter and Facebook about how they are caring for their injuries. They are learning more about their own bodies. In my opinion, this is going to raise the game of the entire sport. When they blossom out of the amateurs, whether they go to the Olympics or they turn pro, then they’re going to carry this into the pros with them. I think that it’s going to make the sport much more fair, much more advanced. I think the fighters that we are seeing ten years or three years from this are going to be so much better than they are today.” - Sean O’Grady, former boxing world champion
“I think the World Series of Boxing is great,” Goossen said. “It’s a whole different look then what you’re used to seeing in amateur boxing. Whenever you get this type of competition at this level it can only help the future of Olympic boxing.”
“All boxers, coaches and national federations will benefit from this project because it is future-oriented.” - Mr Suleyman Mikaylov, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Boxing Federation
- Dan Goossen, longtime boxing promoter “Looking forward for the next year!” “I am a part of the team. Because of this team I will improve as a fighter. At the beginning I had doubts about WSB because I did not know much about it. Now I am 100% for it, I see it is taking off. I am 100% convinced it will work. It is a great, great concept.”
- Marc Pauchet, WSB fan
- Kenny Egan, Light heavyweight boxer for Miami Gallos
Joseph Taylor, WSB fan
“The entire thing is exciting and people are seeing firsthand the challenges and opportunities that the WSB has to offer. Hopefully people will be able to bite into it and appreciate the great fights we’re giving them. People want to see exciting boxing and that’s what we’re giving them. Hopefully, it will give the fans something to appreciate and to look this way. Look at the fights we’re giving you. When was the last time you went to a boxing card and you were on the edge of your seat on every single fight? You’re lucky if you go to a boxing card now with five fights, you’re lucky if one or two of those are exciting fights. The majority of the time you go, they are lopsided fights and you know who is going to win. Here, you don’t really know who is going to win and you have some of the best amateur fighters in the world going at it toe-to-toe.”
“Boxing is a sport for those strong in mind, body and spirit, which includes BOTH men and women.”
- Manny Robles, Head Coach, Los Angeles Matadors
- Shane Superfly Quillen, WSB fan
“They do have some REAL good fights…I love watching it. The whole concept is great.”
Danielle Curtiss, WSB fan “WSB is a big ray of H.O.P.E.” - Paulie Faines, WSB fan “This has the best match ups and the best action. I had to upgrade my dish subscription to get the versus channel but it is well worth it. I would say that this will catch on like wild fire when you have your first World Series elimination tournament.”
WSB YEARBOOK: WSB IN THE MASS MEDIA - 131
World Series of Boxing S.A. would like to thank the following people and organizations, without whom the successful inaugural season would not have been possible Our sponsor KSS Our official glove supplier Top Ten Our 12 teams and their hard work in launching the first season All 193 AIBA National Federations and their support All WSB Supervisors, Referees and Judges and ringside doctors Swiss Timing Mediasprint Our commentators for the international TV feed, Sean O’Grady and Alan Massengale The City of Guiyang and the Sports Bureau of Guizhou province for hosting the finals And last but not least, all the staff at AIBA and WSB
WORLD SERIES OF BOXING Avenue de Rhodanie 54 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland www.worldseriesboxing.com
WORLD SERIES OF BOXING Avenue de Rhodanie 54 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland www.worldseriesboxing.com