WSB 2013-14: Guerreros 0-5 Domadores: The Cubans have arrived!

Cub vs Mex

Wow! That is the best way to describe what we saw last night from World Series of Boxing (WSB) new boys, the Cuba Domadores. The Cubans announced themselves on the world stage with a bang as they totally dominated their Group B rivals, the Mexico Guerreros, in Mexico City.

It was the C1 category, featuring the Light Flyweights (46-49kg), the Bantamweights (56kg), Light Welterweights (64kg), Middleweights (75kg) and Heavyweights (91kg), who took to the ring in a stunning display of boxing.

Bout of the match
With the score already 2:0 to Cuba, their World silver medallist Yasnier Toledo Lopez took on Juan Romero of the Guerreros at Light Welterweight. Romero, now in his fourth season with the WSB is a veteran fighter who has only lost once in the last two years and has also clocked up nine wins along the way. If anyone was going to stop the juggernaut that was the Cuba Domadores, it had to be him. The Cuban certainly did not get it all his own way with the Mexican winning round’s two and three to take the bout right down to the wire. When the Cuban’s hand was raised, to the despair of the hopeful local crowd, it was already game set and match to the Domadores.

Boxer of the match
Up last into the ring, Heavyweight Erislandy Savon Cotilla looked awesome against his French opponent Djabril Coupe who has been brought in this season to bolster the Guerreros Heavyweight ranks. Erislandy, who is the nephew of the great three time Olympic Champion Felix Savon, looked outstanding and knocked his opponent down with a perfectly placed left hook early in round one. By the end of the round, the Mexican coaches had seen enough and threw in the towel. It was an amazing WSB debut for the big man, who will be one to watch this season for sure. His victory ensured a white wash for the Domadores team.

The turning point
When the Cubans got off the plane? Arguably there was no turning point as the match was basically one way traffic from the beginning to the end. As soon as World bronze medallist Yosbany Veitia Soto entered the ring against the Guerreros Joselito Velazquez in the opening bout of the evening, things looked bad for the Guerreros. The young Mexican boxer tried to come forward and catch his opponent but Soto was just too nimble and avoided all danger whilst picking his opponent off on the way in. From there on out it was all downhill for the Guerreros.

Fact/Stat of the match
Erislandy Savon’s Knockdown just one minute into round one still wasn’t as fast as his knockdown of his first round opponent Jinho Heo of Korea in the AIBA World Boxing Championships Almaty 2013 a few weeks ago. In that event he took his opponent out in less than 30 seconds for a TKO victory.

Wrap up
Middleweight Ramon Luis Nicolas of the Domadores is the current Pan American Champion but had a poor performance at the latest World Championships where he went out in the second round. This left him with an AIBA World Ranking of just 20, which is probably a little unkind. Meanwhile in a late change for Mexico, Diego Moreno had to step in for Juan Mercado. He deserves credit for stepping up to the plate without warning, but it was still bad news for the Mexicans. Moreno has very little experience at international level and this call up represented a huge step in his career. The Cuban was totally dominant as he strolled to victory. Watch out for Nicolas’s speed this season.

Elsewhere, London 2012 Olympic Champion Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana looked in fine form against Brayan Gonzales who stepped in as another last minute Mexican replacement for Aaron Almeda at Bantamweight. The Cuban was in fine form throughout the bout and put on a display of total dominance. He took every single round on his way to an easy victory.

Coming up next
The Domadores are travelling to Europe to take on the Hussars Poland who have come off a loss to neighbours Russia, whilst the Mexicans take on the Azerbaijan Baku Fires away. That will be a particularly interesting match to watch with both teams needing a win to avoid being sent to the bottom of the table.

Catch up!
Don’t miss out on anything with our new service AIBABoxingTV. Highlights of all matches are provided with commentary shortly after each match so that you can keep up with the season as it unfolds.

You can follow both the Mexico Guerreros and Cuba Domadores on Twitter. You can also follow the WSB to stay on top of the action