#WSBV Day 1 – Russian Boxing Team return to form with 5-0 win over Algeria Desert Hawks
08 April 2015
#WSBV Day 1 Rus vs Alg
The World Series of Boxing (WSB) returned to Moscow on Tuesday night as Russian Boxing Team defeated Algeria Desert Hawks 5-0.
This was an important victory for Russia as they had lost their previous two fixtures, while it was a crucial night for some of their star boxers who are hoping to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games through WSB.
One of those fighters is Petr Khamukov who stormed to the top of the Middleweight (75 kg) rankings after beating Algeria’s Azzouz Boudia on points.
This was Khamukov’s fifth win of the season, and he has now overtaken Arlen Lopez, Hurshidbek Normatov and Tomasz Jablonski in the Middleweight standings.
All four competitors have 25 points, and with just two Olympic quotas available plus only one match of the Regular Season to go for the weight class, Khamukov has put himself in prime position to qualify for Rio 2016.
Another Russian star whose Olympic dreams grew stronger in this match was Bantamweight (56 kg) Vladimir Nikitin who moved from sixth to second in the rankings by winning every round against Khalil Litim.
With one match to go for the Bantamweights, Nikitin has opened up a three point cushion over third placed Michael Conlan heading into the final match of the Regular Season.
Russia began the evening with victory at Light flyweight (49 kg) when Vasilii Egorov earned his fourth win of the campaign over Algeria’s 0-4 Zoheir Toudjine.
The overall victory was secured for Russia as 4-1 Vitaly Dunaytsev enjoyed a comfortable win over 2-4 Light welterweight (64 kg) Ahmed Boudiaf.
Heavyweight (91 kg) Evgeny Tishchenko secured the Russian whitewash in the last match of the evening with a dominant performance against Bouziane Houna.
