WBC Boxing Grand Prix quarter-finals results
WBC Boxing Grand Prix third stage full fight results
32 became 16 on Wednesday, August 13 in Saudi Arabia
Phase 3 of the WBC Boxing Grand Prix delivered thrilling upsets and spectacular knockouts across nearly nine hours of free boxing on DAZN as the crowd at the Cool Arena in Saudi Arabia saw 32 fighters from 15 different countries in four different weight classes attempt to stamp their ticket to the tournament semi-finals.
“We saw a compilation of great talent from all over the world. The boxers that fought tonight will be local heroes when they come back home,” said WBC President and tournament organiser Mauricio Sulaiman. “This is something that just keeps getting better. I can’t wait for the Semifinals in October, and then the Grand Finale in December.”
All 16 quarter-finalist winners will compete in the WBC Boxing Grand Prix semi-finals in October on a date to be determined.
Featherweight
Yoni Valverde 16-0 (3 KOs) vs Yusuf Adeniji 16-1 (10 KOs)
Yoni Valverde took the victory by unanimous decision in a complicated fight for the Frenchman.
The contest had an intense rhythm during the full six rounds. At the beginning of the first, Valverde slipped and fell.
Both boxers threw a large volume of punches, but not all of them managed to hit their target. Valverde sought at all times to shorten the distance, Adeniji on his side, took advantage of his long range and tried to keep him out of range; The Frenchman was skilful and managed to get into his opponent's guard. The rhythm of the fight was cut off by the Nigerian's constant hugs.
Iman Joshua Lee 14-1 (8) vs Bekizizwe Maitse 9-1 (3)
Bekizizwe Maitse of South Africa, takes the victory by majority decision, after showing great talent as a counterpuncher and leaves the American, Iman Lee, on the way.
Lee showed speed in his fists connecting, but Bekizizwe Maitse's defense and counterpunching were much better and the referees had him up in the first two rounds, no matter how much Iman Lee tried to decipher his opponent, he could not do it. By the fifth round things were even, the three judges had them tied. For the closing, Maitse was again the one who connected more clearly.
Muhamet Qamili 17-0 (7 KOs) vs Troy Nash 5-1 (1 KO)
Muhamet Qamili won his fight against Troy Nash in a heart decision. The fight went to the tiebreaker system and Qamili won it by enhanced scoring system.
In the penultimate fight of the third phase of the WBC Boxing Grand Prix, Muhamet Qamili took the best of his fight against Troy Nash. The Italian pressured Nash throughout the fight and although the American landed good punches, Qamili was able to overcome his enemy's guard and dictated the pace of the fight, which was a little run over by the constant hugs of the boxers.
Brandon Mejia 11-0 (9 KOs) vs Ayubkhon Bakhtiyorov 8-1 (5KOs)
Brandon Mejia takes the win by unanimous decision over Ayubkhon Bakhtiyorov of Uzbekistan, Brandon is the only Mexican to advance to the semifinals.
From the first round Mejia repeatedly shook Bakhtiyorov with real bombs, both exchanged but the Mexican got the best part, Mejia Mosqueda walked the canvas well, throwing punches from different angles that Bakhtiyorov could not avoid and that is how from start to finish he takes the fight.
Super Lightweight
Sanatali Toltayev 4-1 (2 KOs) vs Danylo Lozan 15-0 (9 KOs)
Danylo Lozan was having a very good fight. It was stopped in the fifth round due to a second accidental headbutt that caused a second cut on the Ukrainian’s face.
Danylo Lozan took the victory by majority technical decision. The fight started very fast and intense, with a lot of exchanges at speed where Lozan had the upper hand. Toltayev tried to close the distance to avoid punishment from the Ukrainian, but, for the first time in his professional career, he was knocked down by a punch. Two accidental headbutts in rounds 4 and 5 caused two severe cuts on Lozan’s face. Due to the last one, the fight was stopped in the fifth round.
Carlos Utria 12-0 (10 KOs) vs Spencer Wilcox (Canada) 12-1 (5 KOs)
The Colombian, Carlos Utria, continues to show himself as one of the favorites to win the super lightweight division, achieving a victory by unanimous decision against the Canadian, Spencer Wilcox.
It was a complete fight for Carlos Utria, who took the confrontation from start to finish in the ring in Saudi Arabia. He showed a powerful and effective jab, and when he wanted to, he threw combinations of 3 or more punches, with most of them landing on his opponent. He also punished the body and, towards the end of the fight, gave a masterclass in defense, a true promise of Colombian boxing.
Mujibillo Tursunov 8-0 (2 KOs) vs Misael Cabrera 17-3-1 (11 KOs)
Tursunov and Cabrera gave us a real war in the ring. The Uzbek took the victory by unanimous decision. From the beginning of the fight, both fighters went for an exchange, managing to land good punches on their opponent. In the third round, after 3 warnings, a point was deducted from the Uzbek for low blows. Fighting at close range, both warriors engaged in an exchange of blows. Tursunov got the better of it by being more precise and landing the best combinations.
Fiorenzo Priolo 11-1 (5) vs Ntethelelo Nkosi 10-2 (5)
Ntethelelo Nkosi of South Africa took the victory and his classification to the semifinals by defeating the Italian, Fiorenzo Priolo, by unanimous decision.
The latter was knocked down in the fourth round. It was a fight with turnarounds. In the beginning, the Italian, Fiorenzo Priolo, looked good, landing combinations and dodging punches, but in the fourth round, the South African, Nkosi, put him on the canvas with a right hand that landed squarely on his opponent’s jaw.
From there, the South African grew in confidence and took the victory.
Middleweights
Dmytro Rybalko 5-1-1 (2 KOs) vs Derek Pomerleau 14-0 (11 KOs)
In a short but intense fight, Derek Pomerleau once again demonstrated his great KO power, stopping Rybalko in the second round. In a fight that started with a lot of caution, Derek Pomerleau surprised everyone by finding the Ukrainian’s jaw in the second round. After a right hook that surprised him, the Canadian launched a powerful 4-punch combination that left his opponent out of the fight. The referee stopped the fight immediately. Pomerleau won the fight by TKO.
Dylan Biggs (Australia) 16-1 (9 KOs) vs Petro Frolov (Ukraine) 12-2-0 (4 KOs)
Dylan Biggs secured his ticket to the semifinals by unanimous decision in a fight he dominated from the first rounds. He also knocked down the Ukrainian and thus took the victory. In the first two rounds, Dylan Biggs focused on his work and got ahead on the scorecards. From the third round on, he began to fight in reverse, knowing he was winning. For his part, Petro Frolov was a true brave fighter who kept moving forward. At the beginning of the fifth round, a clash of heads opened a cut above the Ukrainian’s eyebrow, and he also suffered a knockdown in the same round. Frolov closed out the sixth with everything he had, but it wasn’t enough.
Carlos Sinisterra 13-1 (10 KOs) vs Ephrem Bariko 12-1 (6 KOs)
From the beginning, it was clear that the fight would end earlier than scheduled.
Carlos Sinisterra came from behind to win by KO. Ephrem Bariko dominated the first two rounds and the beginning of the third with good, strong, and precise combinations that always landed on target. But with a two-punch combination, Carlos Sinisterra turned the fight around, leaving the Frenchman hurt. The fight ended with the Colombian punishing his opponent’s face on the ropes of the ring; when he fell, he couldn’t get up.
Emiliano Aguillon 13-1-1 (7 KOs) vs Lancelot Proton de la Chappelle 18-1-1 (5 KOs)
The Frenchman, Lancelot Proton de la Chappelle, secured his passage to the next round. Despite a very close fight, he took the victory via the “enhanced scoring system.” The Mexican, Aguillon, looked very good in the first rounds, landing his right cross repeatedly on the Frenchman’s face. As the fight progressed, the Frenchman adapted better and in the last rounds, he connected more punches and was hit very little.
Heavyweight
Devon Young 9-1 (7 KOs) vs Keaton Gomez 13-3 (11 KOs)
Keaton Gomez didn’t disappoint and started the quarterfinal round with a first-round TKO.
From the moment the fight began, the South African started throwing powerful punches to the American’s face that landed clean. After one minute of fighting, Young fell to the canvas, only to get back up and receive more punishment. Florian stopped the fight after a powerful right hook.
Piotr Lacz (Poland) 14-1-0 (10 KOs) vs Kevin Ramirez 11-0-1 (4 KOs)
In a very close decision, the judges declared the Argentine, Kevin Ramirez, the winner via “enhanced scoring system” after a very tight fight that was tied until the fourth round. It was a very competitive fight from the first round.
The Pole, Lacz, was constantly moving forward, trying to punish Kevin, but although his punches looked more powerful in the first round, as the fight progressed, Ramirez evened the scorecards with good combinations and accurate shots.
Both closed the last round in a great way, leaving everything in the hands of the judges.
Ahmed Krnjic 6-0 (4 KOs) vs Tsonte Rogava 12-1 (8 KOs)
In a close fight where both left their hearts in the ring, Ahmed Krnjic won the fight by majority decision. The fight started cautiously on both sides, but as the first rounds progressed, both fighters began to loosen up.
The Bosnian sought to control the ring with good punches and by cornering his opponent, but Rogava counter-attacked well. As fatigue set in, the Ukrainian slowed down a bit and Krnjic took advantage to close out the final rounds better.
Dante Stone 21-1-0 (13 KOs) vs Youness Baalla (Morocco) 2-2-1 (2 KOs)
Dante Stone took the victory by unanimous decision against Youness Baalla and with that, he secured his ticket to the semifinals. It was a very close fight in which the American, Dante Stone, showed better defense against the Moroccan, Youness Baalla.
In the first rounds, Stone was effective with his fists, and although Baalla kept moving forward, he had a hard time finding his opponent, as the American simply seemed to vanish.
