Boxing: Azerbaijan beats Poland

The Azerbaijan Baku Fires pulled off a staggering away win in Poland against a weak looking Hussars side. Despite being drawn as underdogs in the so-called “Group of Death”, this is very bad news indeed for the Poles who have yet to win a bout this season.

In Dec. 6 action we had the Light Flyweights (46-49kg), Bantamweights (56kg), Light Welterweights (64kg), Middleweights (75kg) and Heavyweights (91kg) slipping through the ropes and dancing on the canvas.

Bantamweight Marek Pietruczuk went face to face with Gairbek Germakhanov. This was an excellent bout between two real fighters. Both were willing to exchange ferociously in a fantastic display of boxing. The Pole deserves credit for bravery given the experience of his opponent. The Azeri came into the match with a record of 10-2 which was difficult for the debutant. Germakhanov moves beautifully in the ring and is able to switch sides at will and boxed with his hands low in the later rounds as he looked to draw his opponent on. The young Hussar looked good but Germakhanov was outstanding throughout and represents a real prospect for the Fires this season.

Piotr Gredke of the Hussars had a difficult match-up with Georgian WSB veteran Jaba Khositashvili at Middleweight. In yet another example of a trial by fire (and yet another unfortunate pun tonight), this was a very hard bout for the young Polish boxer in what was really a fairly one sided affair. The Fires boxer was able to stroll past his hard working but inexperienced opponent. As with all the other Hussars Poland boxers who took to the ring this evening, Gredke struggled to find his range and was unable to dictate the distance at which the bout was fought, and as all fighters know: he who controls the distance controls the bout, which is exactly what Khositashvili did.

Light Welterweight Damian Kiwior took to the ring for the local team against the Fires Gaybatulla Gadhialiyev. The Azeri hasn’t fought in the WSB since Season I but looked good on his return to out-gun his Polish opponent. He was a slippery customer, being able to switch from one side to the other at will, and moving his head like a snake to avoid the Hussars linear punches. The Pole, an orthodox boxer with obvious power, struggled to cope with the class of his opponent in what was a rude welcome to the WSB. Gadhialiyev on the other hand is a very exciting boxer to watch, and we can only expect him to improve as the season progresses. Once the Azeri’s hand was raised, the rest of the match had already become a damage limitation exercise for the Hussars.

Elsewhere Ibiyev Magomed stormed past his Hussars Poland rival Arkadiusz Lubomski at Light Flyweight with a 3:0 victory and scoring 50:45 on all three judges’ score cards for an emphatic start to the young southpaw’s WSB career.

His Azeri team mate Danis Latypov made very short work of his Polish opponent Mateusz Malujda who got caught very early on in the opening round with some heavy shots and was unable to recover. From our angle it looked as though there may have potentially been some form of lower body injury sustained as well which affected the fighter’s mobility, though that has not yet been confirmed. In any event, the corner threw in the towel just 55 seconds into the first round to save the beleaguered Pole from what was quickly becoming a very sticky situation.

Azerbaijan make an important trip to Russia in a battle for third place in the table, whilst the Hussars have to regroup quickly to face fellow basement boys the Mexico Guerreros in Mexico City.

ANN.Az