SPORTS
Azerbaijan Baku Fires overcome Puerto Rico Hurricanes 4-1
![Azerbaijan Baku Fires overcome Puerto Rico Hurricanes 4-1](/files/2016/1/1200x630/14559858741012429712_1200x630.jpg)
Baku, February 20, AZERTAC
Azerbaijan Baku Fires registered their second home win of WSB Season VI on Friday night in Baku, comfortably taking the match 4-1 despite a valiant fight from their Group D rivals Puerto Rico Hurricanes, who are left chasing their first win of the campaign.
The Fires’ new light flyweight boxer Rasul Saliev has replaced Javid Dadashov for Season VI, but was unable to show off his talent infront of the home crowd after opponent Anthony Ortiz was taken ill and could not fight.
With the walkover giving the hosts the advantage, bantamweight Iarash Magomedov was then able to double the lead in the second bout against Hurricanes’ 19-year-old Edgardo Rolon. Opting for a patient approach to try and secure his first WSB win, several rapid jabs in the first round put the Puerto Rican southpaw on the back foot, and Magomedov controlled the contest to the final bell.
Azerbaijan’s experienced London 2012 Olympian Gaybatulla Gadzhialiyev was the sole member of the side to win in Kazakhstan in Week 2, but he faced a Jean Carlos Rivera who had been unbeaten in Season V. Rivera couldn’t find any route through his opponent’s defences this time around, and Gadzhialiyev’s win put the Fires into a commanding 3-0 lead.
The bout of the evening followed between Puerto Rico Hurricanes’ French star and European Union Champion Christian Mbilli Assomo and Azerbaijan’s National Middleweight Champion Mikalai Vesialou. Assomo looked comfortable close-in to his opponent, and his greater accuracy brought a morale-boosting win for the visitors to take with them to their tough match against reigning champions Astana Arlans in two weeks’ time .
Closing out the evening in Baku were the heavyweights Abdulkadir Abdullayev and Roman Fress. Puerto Rico Hurricanes’ German draft pick Fress tried to control the bout from range in the opening two rounds, but a signature right hook from Abdullayev in the third round put his opponent on the canvas, giving the referee no choice but to award the bout to the hosts, completing a convincing 4-1 win for the Baku Fires.