Riyadh Season WBC Boxing Grand Prix - Tournament Details, Preview, Round By Round & Results!

...did Ak and Barak break up?

 

WBC open scoring:

19-19
20-18 x2, both for Adeniji

 

Valverdé rocked Adeniji halfway into R3!

Should mean he's trailing by a point on two cards and up by a point on the last.

 

Valverdé stalking in the 5th, very confident, switching to southpaw, tossing lead torpedoes downstairs and slipping/weaving under every jab from Adeniji.

 

Adeniji winded down the stretch, falling onto all fours stumbling over his own legs, clinching, popping a weak jab in retreat...

 

Official cards:

Krebs 59-55
Yona 58-56
Dawson 58-56

UD for Valverdé

 

Tad dramatic, this... Yoni sinking to his knees, overcome with emotion as his entire corner surrounds him for a group hug as though he just won a world championship.

Least stiff upper lip decorum of any QF winner today.

 

Iman Lee (USA, 14-0) vs. Bekizizwe "Dr. Sleep" Maitse (South Africa, 8-1), 6 rounds @ featherweight

 

Dr. Sleep is the third and final specifically South African, and fifth & final fighter from the African continent (along with a Nigerian and Moroccan) to compete in these quarterfinals.

 

STRONG body jabs by Lee from the jump.

 

Lee had a stronger first half of the 1st, but Maitse controlled the last ninety seconds.

Curious how the judges saw it.

 

Lee scored a nice upset over Héctor Alejandro "Sepulturero" Munguía Calderón in the previous stage.

 

Maitse's father is Bongani "Wonder Boy / Dancing Shoes" Mahlangu, himself a super featherweight southpaw fighter who is still active today at 46 years old. Apparently they spar. That's wild.

Wonder if Maitse, if he gets eliminated from the Grand Prix, will go try avenging his dad's consecutive defeats at the hands of their countryman Siyabulela Hem.

edit: and the grandpa trains both of them!!

 

WBC open scoring:

38-38 x3

Could be heading to another edition of WBC Enhanced Scoring!

(so far both times it's been used, the second set of judges' scores haven't been enough and have requires appealing to a 3rd line failsafe, the WBC Executive Panel)

 

What is Barak even talking about?

"When you're both fast fighters and both have long arms, ya gotta have a big back"