#WSBV Day 4 – British Lionhearts and Algeria Desert Hawks both aim to avoid losing three in a row
04 February 2015
#WSBV Lionhearts vs Hawks
After two defeats in succession after an opening victory in the World Series of Boxing (WSB), British Lionhearts return home to the iconic York Hall as they host Algeria Desert Hawks who have lost
their opening brace of fixtures.
This Group A match is important for both Franchises, with the Lionhearts eager to halt their losing run and reassert themselves as a team looking to qualify from the group, while Algeria will want to ease the pressure of having no wins on the board so far.
On Thursday 5th February 2015 fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:00 GMT at AIBABoxingTV.com.
European bronze medalist Jack Bateson opens the action for British Lionhearts at Flyweight (52 kg) and he has big shoes to fill in replacing Andrew Selby who was stopped two weeks ago due to a head injury.
His opponent is Abdelhakim El Barka who put up a spirited effort in his first WSB match of the season against Yosbany Veitia.
The Lionhearts have a terrific Lightweight (60 kg) in action for the second fight of the evening, as Bulgaria’s two-time European Championships silver medalist and 2009 AIBA World Championships gold medalist Detelin Dalakliev replaces the injured Joe Cordina and faces Algeria’s 0-1 Reda Benbaziz.
Although highly decorated, Dalakliev has spent most of his career at Bantamweight (56 kg) and could struggle in the latter rounds against a WSB veteran like Benbaziz.
British Welterweight (69 kg) Haizel Ekow Tabiri-Essuman had a great performance in his opening WSB contest against Bogdan Shelestyuk, and will look to make it two wins in a row against Sofiane Tabi who endured a tough first match of the season against Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo.
Light heavyweight (81 kg) prospect John Newell makes his WSB debut in match number four, and the 21-year-old faces experienced opposition in two-time Olympian and 2007 All-Africa Games gold medalist Nabil Kassel of Algeria.
The last fight in London is in the Super heavyweight (91+ kg) division and home favourite Joseph Joyce enjoyed a dream match in Ukraine when he sensationally stopped Viktor Vykhrest in round two, and he will look for another early night against Algeria’s Mohamed Grimes.
