Bulgaria’s Javier Ibañez won a featherweight contest at the Madrid Arena in the capital of Spain, defeating Jose Quiles from the host country as part of IBA Champions’ Night. Ibañez was the more direct boxer as the home favorite Quiles took a back-foot stance. The early stages were not dominated by either boxer, but in the fifth round, Ibañez inflicted punishment to Quiles' body, and the only reply was some evasive defense, ducking the oncoming punches to create space. The sixth round would see a drop in accuracy as the pair began to tire. Once again, Ibañez was the busier boxer, landing a hard body blow in the penultimate round. Quiles returned with a moment where he looked rejuvenated as he forced the Bulgarian to come in for a clinch after giving out a body shot of his own. Although his last round would belong to Quiles, it was not enough to overturn the Bulgarian’s unanimous approval from the judges, after eight rounds.
Spain's Enmanuel Reyes Pla claimed a hard-earned cruiserweight victory against Uzbekistan’s Shokhjakhon Abdullaev, despite being pushed all the way by his younger opponent. Ten years Abdullaev’s senior and world amateur bronze medallist, Reyes Pla was welcomed by the Madrid crowd warmly and expected to leave the fans happy after six rounds. However, Abdullaev nearly spoiled those plans as he looked to get the better of Reyes Pla in the middle stage of the bout. Several times he had the 31-year-old worried thanks to some hard shots from Abdullaev. An electric sixth round would cap off a superb bout, which saw the Spanish boxer cement his victory, carrying on his momentum from a successful fifth round.
Italian two-time world silver medallist Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine defeated Ukë Smajli from Switzerland in tanpther cruiserweight bout. The confidence radiated off of Mouhiidine, who raised his glove after each round. Light on his feet, he was able to strike and retreat successfully against Smajli, using the full perimeter of the ring to evade the majority of the Swiss’ offencs. A clear winner on the night, the Italian celebrated colorfully after the verdict was announced.
2019 European Games champion Gabriel Escobar from Spain would end the undefeated professional winning streak of Franck Mombey of Gabon at junior featherweight. The opening rounds were evenly matched. Mombey landed single jabs cleanly, but would then face flurries from Escobar, who scored several times to the body of his taller foe.
Sergio Martinez [not the former world champion] got Spain’s first victory of the night, defeating Moldova’s Dacron Bozorov in a middleweight bout. Bozorov found himself against the ropes as the first round ended, having suffered heavy hits from the young Spaniard. One of Martinez's most successful moves involved loading up a left hook to the body of his opponent. Despite Bozorov looking improved in the third, Martinez put the momentum back in his corner in round four. The fifth round saw fortunes change in the trade of a hand, but ended with the Moldovan being saved by the bell after being struck with a body blow.
In the opening fight of the night, flyweight Deepak Bhoria of India got his arm raised against home favorite Martin Molina. Molina’s strengths lied with the speed of his strikes, while Deepak’s patience on the counter fared him very well. The Indian would steal the spotlight in the third round with some fantastic counter punches, but Molina was as dominant with combination body punches in the fourth. A close encounter was reflected in the judges’ scorecards as Bhoriak was given the win on a split decision, signing off the bout with a crisp right cross and a raise of his arms, confident of his victory.
