The Uzbek Tigers earned two victories to move to the top of the Group D standings ©WSB

The Uzbek Tigers took a major step towards the knock-out phase of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) after recording victories over defending champions Astana Arlans Kazakhstan and the Puerto Rico Hurricanes.

With their clash against the Arlans having been rearranged to this weekend, the WSB debutants were left facing fixtures on back-to-back days, with the first coming in front of their home fans in Tashkent.

Abrorjon Kodirv provided them will the ideal start to the weekend by winning his under 52 kilogram flyweight clash with a third round technical knockout of the Hurricanes’ Ceiber Avila Segura.

Under 60kg lightweight Elnur Abduraimov doubled their advantage with a unanimous points win over Steven Ruidiaz, before the Tigers victory was sealed by a technical knockout win for Dostonbek Turdiev over Samuel Cedeno Roman in their under 69kg welterweight clash.

Unanimous points wins for Shuhrat and Sardor Abdullaev in their respective light and superheavyweight contests sealed a whitewash 5-0 win against their rivals.

The prospect of double success was raised when Hasanboy Dusmatov won his 46 to 49kg flyweight bout with the  Arlans’ Temirtas Zhussupov, as all three judges awarded him a 50:45 verdict.

Abdulkhay Sharakhmatov and Meliboev Fazliddin replicated the feat in their under 56kg bantamweight and 64kg light welterweight contests to seal their team’s second victory of the weekend.

Under 75kg middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov ended the Tigers perfect run of results by beating Hurshidbek Normatov 48-47 on all the judges’ scorecards.

Although Mirzobek Khasanov ensured the Tigers’ weekend would end in style by overcoming Yerkin Mukametzhan on points in their 91kg heavyweight tie.

The Argentina Condors were beaten 5-0 in both their weekend fixtures
The Argentina Condors were beaten 5-0 in both their weekend fixtures ©WSB

The results moved the Tigers to the top of the Group D standings ahead of the Azerbaijan Baku Fires, with defending champions Astana facing a battle to reach the knock-out stage.

In Group C, the Argentina Condors' perfect start to the season came to a stunning end as they were comprehensively thrashed by the Russian Boxing Team in Buenos Aires.

Pavel Silyagin continued his impressive form by beating Sergio Lebensztajn unanimously on points in the under 81kg light heavyweight division, with the result securing the Russians a second straight win.

Argentina Condors were also whitewashed by Caciques Venezuela in Vargas, with Jesus Rojas Devera winning the tightest contest of the day, as he secured a split decision verdict against 46 to 49kg flyweight Junior Zarate.

The results saw the Russian Boxing Team head to the top of the standings with four straight wins, while the Argentina Condors and Caciques Venezuela lie second, having won two and lost two matches.

The China Dragons were able to secure their first WSB win of the season by narrowly overcoming the Türkiye Conquerors 3-2.

Haipeng Mu secured the crucial final win for the Dragons by overcoming Ibrahim Demirezen unanimously in the over 91kg super heavyweight division.

Both teams have lost three of their four ties to date, leaving the Cuba Domadores and Ukraine Otamans as clear favourites to advance from Group A.