Ukraine Otamans won their second match of Season VI on Friday night as they proved too hot for the Turkiye Conquerors in Lviv. After winning a tight opening bout the hosts never looked back, cruising to a 4-0 lead before Turkish heavyweight Seyda Keser stopped Denys Poyatsyka in the fourth round of the final to get the visitors a point on the board.
It could have been a different story had the Otamans’ Nazar Kurotchyn not edged past Hamza Kartal in the see-saw opening light flyweight bout. The Ukrainian National Champion was caught off-guard in the early exchanges before seizing control, only to lose his way again in the fourth round. With the bout finely balanced going into the decisive fifth, Kurotchyn’s greater stamina saw the judges award him the victory and put the hosts 1-0 up.
In the second bout of the night, Ukrainian bantamweight talent Oleh Dovhun went on the attack early with some well-timed left-hooks against Conquerors’ 19-year-old Nurettin Ovat. Ovat found his rhythm in the second round, but Dovhun proved once again why he is the bright young talent of the Otamans’ setup, comfortably taking the judges’ decision after a thrilling bout.
At 33 years old, Ukraine’s National Welterweight Champion Volodymyr Matviichuk is the most senior member of the Otamans’ team and his opponent on Friday evening Yakup Sener couldn’t repeat the form he showed in a Week 1 victory over China Dragons’ Caicheng Meng. Some classic Matviichuk uppercuts helped steer him to a straightforward points win and the Otamans to an unassailable 3-0 lead on the night.
The fourth contest saw the hosts’ southpaw debutant Valerii Kharlamov take on Conquerors’ Evren Tibukoglu, another winner from the Turks’ opening week triumph over China. Kharlamov was taking no chances of becoming Tibukoglu’s second victim of Season VI and dominated the battle from the first round giving the judges a straightforward decision.
The night finally ended on a high note for the Conquerors thanks to heavyweight Seyda Keser as he delivered a surprise TKO against Otamans’ veteran star Denys Poyatsyka. On the strength of the overall display on Friday in Lviv, it looks like the Ukrainians will be favourites to push Cuba for the Group A top spot .
