Mytrofanov continues APB ascent on star-studded night of boxing in Kyiv

Kyiv’s sold out Palace of Sports was the venue for a huge Saturday night of boxing in Ukraine, with Olympic Gold Medalist Oleksandr Usyk’s battle against Cuban Pedro Rodriguez headlining the event. The undercard of K2 Promotions’ glittering event saw two key AIBA Pro Boxing contests starring local talent, with the experienced Middleweight Dmytro Mytrofanov facing Ecuador’s Marlo Delgado and Light Welterweight Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn against Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam in front of more than 7000 spectators.

AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, who attended the match alongside fellow IOC Executive Board Member and Ukraine National Olympic Committee President, Mr Sergey Bubka, praised the event: “It was one of the best matches I have ever attended and I would like to congratulate the boxers and the organisers on the spectacular show”.

The Middleweight match-up saw two very different boxing styles make for an engaging, evenly balanced encounter, with Mytrofanov edging the opening rounds as he repeatedly stalked the Ecuadorian at the ropes, landing cleaner and more effective punches.

Delgado kept his cool to come back strongly, relying on his light footwork to create openings as the Ukrainian continued to press powerfully. The tempo was relentless, and the crowd cheered loudly in the fourth as the contest burst into relentless action with sharp combination punching. The result the crowd wanted rarely looked in doubt though, and Mytrofanov won 78:73 on all three judges’ scorecards.

“I am very happy that I won and I would like to thank all the fans for their incredible support in the arena tonight. I would also like to thank APB for the opportunity to box at such a high level in my home country,” Mytrofanov said after the bout.

In the earlier APB match, Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam used heavy counter-punches to repeatedly stumble his Ukrainian opponent before flooring Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn in the third round to silence the home crowd. From then on Tharumalingam took full control of the bout, landing almost at will and knocking Kyslytsyn down again in the final round as he powered through to a unanimous 59:54, 59:53, 59:54 points win.

“I’m very happy to have won in Ukraine against Kyslytsyn. It wasn’t easy, and to defeat a Ukrainian on his home turf, with the country’s great boxing tradition, means a lot. I’m happy to get the chance to fight in APB and besides my goal to become the APB Champion I want to qualify for the Olympic Games through APB,” said Qatar’s victorious Light Welterweight.

APB Stars Mytrofanov And Delgado Prepare For Kyiv Contest On Boxing’s Big Night In Ukraine

Following last month’s historic Pinchuk vs Graf bout on the Fury vs Klitschko undercard in Dusseldorf, the next phase of AIBA Pro Boxing involves a thrilling Saturday night of boxing in Kyiv this weekend. The city’s Palace of Sports venue will see Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov take on Ecuador’s Marlo Delgado ahead of K2 Promotions’ hotly anticipated headline event – the fans’ favourite and Olympic heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title fight against Cuba’s Pedro Rodriguez.

Middleweight Mytrofanov joined the Ukrainian national team in 2008 and has been building his way to the top ever since. Following two successful seasons with WSB, the 26 year-old joined the AIBA Pro Boxing circuit in October 2014, defeating Romania’s Bogdan Juratoni, Egypt’s Hossam Hussein Bakr Abdin (twice) and France’s Michel Tavares.

His opponent on Saturday night will be Ecuador’s London 2012 Olympian Marlo Delgado. “I am really excited to be a part of this APB match. Mytrofanov is a very strong boxer, but I have trained hard ahead of the bout and I’m confident that we can deliver a true showcase of boxing for the fans in Kyiv,” said Delgado ahead of the bout.

APB stars Mytrofanov and Delgado prepare for Kyiv contest on boxing’s big night in Ukraine

Another Ukrainian, the experienced light welterweight Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn, will also be entering the Palace of Sports ring on Saturday night, determined to round off the year with a precious win as he takes on Qatari APB newcomer Thulasi Tharumalingam.

“I hope to have a big home crowd behind me. The training sessions have gone great, I am in good shape and I am ready to put in a strong performance infront of my home fans,” said Kyslytsyn.

German-born Tharumalingam won his opening APB match in September against Ding Tianlong of China and will also need little motivation to get a result against the home boxer and go into the Olympic year on a high.

Of Treble Winning Teams And Coaches…

Jose Mourinho photo credit uefa.com

Glasgow Celtic are the first team in Europe to complete a “Champions League” treble. This feat happened way back in 1967 managed by Jock Stein, Ajax Amsterdam Achieved same five years later in led by Ștefan Kovács in 1972 but the Football world had to wait sixteen years before the next treble happened when PSV Eindhoven under the guidance of Guus Hiddink Completed the treble in 1988.

Manchester United Became the first and only English Side to Complete the “treble” In 1999 managed by Alex Ferguson who’s later knighted by the Queen of England for his service to British Football. 2009 was the year Barcelona won what was termed an historic treble under the watchful eyes of Pep Guardiola, then this was followed by Italian Giants Inter Milan a year after in 2010 Led By Jose Mourinho.

2013 saw Bayern Munich join this elite group of clubs with “trebles” when the German team also pulled of the treble with Jupp Heynckes at the helm of affairs in the dug-out.

But No team has ever won the treble twice until last night in Berlin when the Catalan Side managed by Luis Enrique defeated the “Old Lady of Turin” by 3 goals to one to complete the “Treble”.

Juventus were also gunning for their first treble but this was not to be as a Superb performance by Barca ensured that the Spanish Giants Win their 5th Champions League trophy.

Luis Enrique, credit fcbarcelona.com

Treble winning teams:

The teams to have won the continental title and their domestic league and cup double in the same season are:

· Glasgow Celtic (1967) – managed by Jock Stein
· Ajax Amsterdam (1972) – managed by Ștefan Kovács.
· PSV Eindhoven (1988) – managed by Guus Hiddink
· Manchester United (1999) – managed by Alex Ferguson
. FC Barcelona (2009) – managed by Pep Guardiola
· Inter Milan (2010) – managed by Jose Mourinho
· Bayern Munich (2013) – managed by Jupp Heynckes
. FC Barcelona (2015) – managed by Luis Enrique

Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Leo Messi, Gerard Piqué, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodríguez will also go into the history books as the first players to be part of this unprecedented “Double Treble” the above listed players were part of Guardiola’s treble winning team and were also an integral role in Luis Enrique’s treble last night at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.

Xavi Hernández as also set a new UEFA Champions League appearance record, his half appearance makes it a total of 151 matches that he has played in the Champions League.