Undefeated in their fifth season, the Astana Arlans established themselves as the strongest team in group B on Feb. 15 by defeating the Puerto Rico Hurricanes in Karaganda and extending their win streak to five.
Mardan Berikbayev started the match with the first win for the home team in the light flyweight category (up to 49 kilogrammes) by defeating Anthony Ortiz. In the next fight, the World Series of Boxing veteran bantamweight (56 kilogrammes) Meirbolat Toitov impressively floored Luis Ruis 27 seconds into round two. In the third bout among light welterweights (64 kilogrammes), Samat Bashenov outboxed Jan Rivera and secured the Arlan’s win over the hurricanes. As the team competition continued in the middleweight category (75 kilogrammes), the 2013 International Boxing Association World Championships gold medalist Zhanibek Alimkhanuly stopped Jeffrey Flaz Guillén in the first round in his season debut.
In the heavyweight category (91 kilogrammes), Vasiliy Levit finished the bout early by knocking out Gabriel Richards in the second round.
The Astana Arlans will try to keep their streak alive when they face the Argentina Condors on Feb. 21 at home.
