Following his victory Pfeifer becomes the first APB Inaugural Titleholder, as he beat his Moroccan opponent Mohammed Arjaoui, with the scorecard in the German's favour, 78:74, after eight rounds.

The new competition was introduced in October 2014 to give elite boxers the opportunity to compete professionally while remaining eligible to compete at the Olympics, with 20 places made available for Rio 2016.

Having won three preliminary bouts Pfeifer came up against Arjaoui in the final and managed to win the final rounds of the contest to pull away on the scorecards, and if he can defend his title in the APB Cycle 1 Title Bout, Pfeifer will qualify for an Olympic quota place, with Champion and Challenger each earning places.

Meanwhile the World Series of Boxing (WSB) saw a number of close fought fixtures, with the Ukraine Otamans edging the British Lionhearts 3-2, while the Astana Arlans Kazakhstan overcame Rafako Hussars Poland by the same scoreline.

The meeting of the two unbeaten teams Ukraine Otamans and the British Lionhearts, saw the Otamans get off to an excellent start as Azat Usenaliev caught Andrew Selby with several strong punches, which saw Selby sustain an eye injury, with the referee ending the contest and saw Selby's unbeaten record in the WSB come to an end.

The Otamans, on their home turf in Kyiv, increased their advantage as Oleg Prudkyi was able to defeat Josephy Cordina on points, before Ekow Essuman reduced the deficit with two judges scoring the welterweight fight 48:47 in Essuman's favour.

The final two bouts saw Oleksandr Khyzhniak overcome Aston Brown with a technical knock out to secure a decisive lead for the Otamans, before Joseph Joyce stopped Viktor Vykhryst with a powerful performance to end the fixture at 3-2.

Joseph Joyce won his fight but it was not enough for the British Lionhearts ©Getty Images



The result means that the Otaman's maintain their winning start to the WSB, while the Lionhearts have a win and a defeat, with both squads showing they could go far in this years' series.

In Group B Astana Arlans Kazakhstan earned a narrow win over Rafako Hussars Poland, but found themselves staring at an upset three bouts in as Poland's boxers Dawid Michelus and Steven Donnelly claimed wins in three rounds to put them 2-1 up, with Olzhas Sattibayev winning the flyweight fight for Kazakhstan.

However, the Astana Arlans Kazakhstan levelled the tie with a narrow victory in the light heavyweight division on points, before Filip Hrgovic dominated all five rounds to win the super heavyweight category and earn Kazakhstan a narrow 3-2 win.

There was a more one-sided encounter in the clash between the Russian Boxing Team and the China Dragons, as the Russian team claimed a 4-1 victory, after their first week bout was cancelled.

The WSB continues tonight with four more fixtures, including holders Cuba Domadores facing the Algeria Desert Hawks as they attempt to continue their unbeaten start.

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