By Alexey Sukachev (at the scale)

The scene is set for the first ever WSB (which corresponds to the World Series of Boxing) match-up on Russian soil. The initial collision between a local team “Kremlin Bears” and Turkish guests from “Istanbulls” takes its place tomorrow at Barvikha Luxury Village, somewhat eight kilometers to the West of the Russian capital. Five pairs of boxers will clash against each other over five rounds under quasi-professional rules, implied for the WSB by the AIBA and their partners in IMG. Start time is set for 7:00 PM LT; the entire show can be seen live through NTV+ network or through the following pay-per-view link .

Tonight a specifically designated presser and a weigh-in procedure took their place at Holiday Inn conference hall in Moscow, Russia. The results are as seen below.

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Bantamweight
Evgeni Gusev (RUS) 53.9 (119 pounds) vs. Selcuk Eker (TUR) 53.9 (119 pounds)

Lightweight
Adlan Abdurashidov (RUS) 61.0 (134 pounds) vs. Bunyamin Aydin (TUR) 60.6 (133 pounds)

Middleweight
Apti Ustarhanov (RUS) 72.0 (159 pounds) vs. Evren Tibukoglu (TUR) 72.9 (161 pounds)

Light Heavyweight
Zhavlonbek Usmanov (KGZ) 81.7 (180.5 pounds) vs. Murat Bayazit (TUR) 83.5 (184.3 pounds)

Heavyweight
Arbi Madaev (RUS) 94 (207.5 pounds) vs. Alexey Sivko (UKR) 93.7 (206.8 pounds)
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Each fight is scheduled for five three-minute rounds with a “ten-point must” scoring system in effect, although it’ll be directed by the CPU rather than by the supervisor. No jerseys and protective helmets will be used.

A careful student of amateur boxing can easily notice a difference between the Russian and Turkish squads. While Turkey is presented by its best or semi-best choices, the Russian team consists mostly of unknown characters and young fighters from Southern Russia. It was first announced that bantamweight Komron Kasimov, middleweight Oleg Liseev and heavyweight Roman Romanchuk would make their debuts against the “Istanbulls”. However, all three of them were excluded from the final roster.

“Roman is currently preparing for his WSB debut”, said Yuri Fedorov, who is the president of “Kremlin Bears” and also a single holder of Russian WSB franchise, during the presser. “But it’s too early for him to make his comeback to the ring. You all know what he has been through in recent times. He should get back to basics, to restore his natural shape and then we shall see the best of Roman’s boxing. As for Kasimov and Liseev, we have a trickier situation here. Both of them – as you certainly know – have just made their professional debuts (in October 2010). I hoped that AIBA would allow recent pro defectors to take part in World Series of Boxing but AIBA rejected such a possibility. We have requested a special permission to be made in regards to both Komron and Oleg but as of now they are out of the list. World Series of Boxing is a slowly developing and it will be much bigger soon. Maybe, AIBA specialists will change their minds after the first season and we shall see professionals here as well”.