By Michael Pavitt

Gabriel Maestre was one of the stars as Venzeuela Caciques upset the Azerbaijan Baku Fires ©WSBThe second round of World Series of Boxing (WSB) Group B matches saw two new franchises claim victories, while the USA Knockouts continued their winning start and in Group A, and the defending champions the Cuba Domadores replicated their dominant opening fixture win, with another 5-0 triumph.


Following their 5-0 debut defeat to the Kazakhstan Astana Arlans, Caciques Venezuela needed to fight back in their second encounter against the Azerbaijan Baku Fires, and the new franchise to the WSB started in perfect fashion as Eduard Bermúdez won his flyweight encounter with Elvin Mamishzada, with all three judges scoring in the Venezuelan's favour.

Season IV runners up the Baku Fires levelled in the second bout of the night, with every round of the lightweight contest scored in Albert Selimov's favour, and the fights continued to go the distance in the third and fourth encounters of the evening, with little to choose between the two sets of boxers.

Gabriel Maestre restored Caciques Venezuela's lead as the judges all agreed he had won the fight 49:46 on points, before the crucial light heavyweight fight saw the narrowest of conclusions, as Albert Ramirez was seen to have won the fight 48:47 by two judges, with the third scoring the contest 49:46 in the Azerbaijani Soltan Migitinov's favour.

Maestre and Ramirez's wins secured the first win for Caciques Venezuela in the WSB and Edgar Munoz added further gloss to the score line in the super heavyweight with a technical knockout of the number one ranked super heavyweight in last season's WSB Arslanbek Makhmudov, to seal a 4-1 victory.

There was further success for new franchises as the Puerto Rico Hurricanes continued their impressive start to the WSB with a second successive 3-2 victory, this time coming at the expense of the Argentina Condors.

Two early victories in the fly and lightweight divisions via the judges' scorecards gave the Hurricanes a perfect platform in Buenos Aires, but the home team bounced back to level the scores as Alberto Palmetta and Marcos Escudero earned victories for the Argentina Condors squad.

Puerto Rico Hurricanes were relying on their Brazilian super heavyweight to maintain their winning start to the WSB and Cosme Dos Santos Nascimento delivered for the franchise, achieving a technical knockout in the third round to earn the Hurricanes another 3-2 win.

Eduard Bermudes won on all three judges scorecards in Venezuela Caciques' 4-1 triumph ©WSBEduard Bermudes won on all three judges scorecards in Venezuela Caciques' 4-1 triumph ©WSB



Elsewhere in Group B the USA Knockouts earned their one hundred per cent record, with a close fought 3-2 triumph over Italia Thunder Boxing Team in Miami, leaving the USA Knockouts, Astana Arlans Kazahkstan and the Puerto Rico Hurricanes as the only teams to win their opening fixtures in the group.

The Puerto Rico Hurricanes' Caribbean neighbours and WSB defending champions the Cuba Domadores continued to show that they will be the team to beat in Season V as they cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Algeria Desert Hawks in Group A, completing 10-0 whitewash of African opposition, after beating the Morocco Atlas Lions by the same score in their opening fixture.

Elsewhere in the group the Mexico Guerreros got off the mark in Season V, as they consigned the Morocco Atlas Lions to a 4-1 defeat, but following the opening two fixtures the franchises will be looking up the table to the Cuba Domadores and Ukraine Otamans, who lead the table following two successive victories each.

The WSB continues on January 30, as Cuba Domadores' and Ukraine Otamans' unbeaten starts will be put to the test by the Russian Boxing Team and the China Dragons respectively, while other fixtures in Group A will see a clash of the lions as the Morocco Atlas Lions host the British Lionhearts.

The Mexico Guerreros will also be in action against the Algeria Desert Hawks and in Group B Caciques Venezuela will hope to back up their first WSB win by ending the USA Knockouts winning start to Season V.

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