GUIYANG, Southwest China, May 28 -- Wang Zhimin from China, Kanat Abutalipov from Kazakhstan and Italian Clemente Russo captured the first-ever World Series of Boxing(WSB) champions here on Friday, grabbing three of the five quotas for London 2017 Olympics qualification.
Both Wang and his 61kg category opponent Yerzhan Mussafirov of Kazakhstan barely moved around in the first bout to save energy. From the second bout, Wang carefully chased around the ring while Mussafirov preferred hunching down to blow with left hook. Both sides seemed to burn out of force after one-two punches in the sixth bout, before Wang got the duke with the packed local audience cheering the victory.
"I'm so thrilled," said 25-year-old Wang. "My hard training worked. I prepared my training by studying his tape to make the right tactics."
"After this win, I will definitely get a rest for a while. You don't know how much pressure I borne to improve my strength," said the sweltering Wang with a golden belt hanging on his right shoulder.
In the 54kg contest, 2008 President's Cup winner Abutalipov defeated Nordine Oubaali of France at 68-65, 66-67 and 67-66, extending his unbeaten record to 8-0 in WSB season.
Russo's 91kg+ rival Magomedrasul Medzhidov of Azerbaijan weight ten kilograms more than the Italian world champion. Russo hedged tight to fend off Medzhidov's heavy punches throughout the match before pocketing the golden belt at 67-66, 67-66 and 67-66.
The WSB is a boxing competition without headguards or vest, with professional style scoring. As an annually recurring, global competition, it includes franchisees in three regional conferences -- Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Founded by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the WSB is the only professional boxing series that the boxers can retain their Olympic eligibility.
The rest two WSB matches in 73kg and 85kg categories will be carried out next day in Guiyang University Stadium.