DATE: January 30, 2011
(LOS ANGELES) Hollywood Fight Night turned into another Los Angeles Matador exhibition Sunday as the league-leading team showcased their superiority over the competition yet again and secured a 5-0 win against the visiting Miami Gallos.
The Matadors, competing in their new home at the Avalon Hollywood , move to 6-1 on the year and gain another three points in the overall standing for a total of 19, six ahead of their next nearest competitor the Mexico City Guereros. Miami falls to 3-4 overall with nine points. The Gallos have now dropped two in a row to the Matadors after defeating them back on November 23 in each team's season opener.
The Gallos came into tonight facing a huge uphill battle even before stepping into the ring against a loaded Matadors squad that featured five fighters ranked in the top-eight of the WSB rankings. Due to a rash of illnesses inflicting the team, the Gallos had to change heavyweights at the last minute when the league's best at the time, Donovan Dennis, had to withdraw and then middleweight John Joe Joyce also was unable to make the flight and match, leaving Miami extremely shorthanded.
Nevetheless, the remaining four Gallos came to fight and left it all in the ring, but came up short in every bout.
Bantamweight Luis MIguel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) fought hard but was outmatched by the more experienced Rau'Shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio), 50-45, 50-45, 49-46. The two-time Olympian Warren had been inactive since December 16 after receiving a head butt against Ronnie Beblik of the Memphis Force. The inactivity didn't affect the Cincinnati native, who now moves to 3-0 on the year and moves another step closer to perhaps securing a berth on his third Olympic team, as he's now ranked third overall.
Prior to his bout this evening, Warren was featured by Maxboxing.com in a feature written by Gabriel Montoya. For a look, click here.
Lightweight Eric Fowler (Houston, Texas) found his first major challenge of the WSB season and handled it well in a split decision victory over Leonid Malkov (Kiev, Ukraine), 49-46, 47-48, 50-45. Fowler had been away from the action since December 12 after suffering a cut in his last fight. Until tonight, he hadn't allowed an opponent to finish a bout with two TKOs in two previous matches. His return win moved him up the WSB rankings to No. 4.
Vyacheslav Shabranskij (Kiev, Ukraine) put together perhaps the upset of the inaugural WSB season tonight, defeating 2008 Olympic silver medalist Kenny Egan (Clondalkin, Ireland) in the light heavyweight contest. Egan had been inactive since a cut to his eye in his opening bout win and took a while to get his ring rhythm back again, which allowed Shabranskij to build up a good lead after two rounds, leading to the split-decision victory, 48-47, 46-49, 49-46. Shabranskij has been impressive with three wins and no losses to date, good enough to move him into third in WSB standings.
Heavyweight Craig Lewis (Detroit, Mich.) suffered a similar fate in his match Sunday as in his previous to bouts this season as David Imoesiri (Long Beach, Calif.) outclassed the Gallos fighter, 49-46, 50-45, 48-47. After a first bout loss to begin the season, Imoesiri has now reeled off three-straight victories and moved to third in the WSB rankings.
With six straight victories, the Matadors now have the second best record among the 12 WSB franchises after the loss by Paris United Saturday night and sit just behind the Baku Fires, who are now 7-0.
The road to securing their first WSB league title gets no easier as the Matadors now travel to Mexico City on Thursday, February 4 to contend with the second-place Mexico City Guerreros and the home-ring advantage they enjoy being at 7,300 feet in elevation. The Miami Gallos, meanwhile, return home to face the Memphis force on Friday, February 5.
About World Series of Boxing Americas
The World Series of Boxing is a global sports league created by the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) to reunite the broader boxing world and its grassroots foundation, provide a bridge between Olympic boxing and professional boxing, and grow the sport's fan base in the United States and throughout the world.
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