#WSBV Road to the Finals – Russian Boxing Team
08 May 2015
World Series Of Boxing 2013-14
Russian Boxing Team has been one of the most consistent Franchises in the history of the World Series of Boxing (WSB), and they remain the only team to ever defeat the fearsome Cuba Domadores in the competition.
After reaching the semi-final stage of Season IV, Russia are keen to go one further in this campaign and win Season V.
An excellent run of results in the Regular Season saw Russia finish second in Group A with 10 wins from 14 matches, and they will be full of confidence competing in the quarter-finals at home.
Midway through the group stages, the team won five consecutive home matches 5-0, and they are backed by many passionate fans in the country.
A huge asset for Russia is the strength in depth of their squad, which boasts many WSB veterans, plus multi-time AOB medalists in various weight categories.
6-0 Vladimir Nikitin finished top of the Bantamweight (60 kg) rankings with many fantastic performances, and earned a Rio 2016 Olympic Games quota through WSB in the process.
Welterweight (69 kg) Radzhab Butaev has an identical record to Nikitin, and also produced moments of genius during the group stages.
In a group of excellent boxers, perhaps their star performer has been the top ranked Middleweight (75 kg) Petr Khamukov who amassed four incredible stoppages in six Regular Season matches.
With the quarter-finals in sight and a difficult task ahead against the dangerous Italia Thunder, Russia will look to competitors such as the 2013 AIBA World Championships Heavyweight (91 kg) silver medalist Evgeny Tishchenko and 5-1 Lightweight (60 kg) Adlan Abdurashidov to assert their dominance.
A fearsome home record and thousands of passionate fans in Moscow should inspire Russia to produce their best in the quarter-finals, and if they can get past Italy, potential Season V glory could be in their sights.