Donegal middleweight Willie McLaughlin helped Italia Thunder to a 4-1 home victory over the Ukraine Otamans in the first leg of their World Series of Boxing semi-final in Italy on Friday night.
McLaughlin, who boxes out of the Illies GG BC, earned a unanimous decision over current Ukrainian champion Ievgenii Barabanov, the 2010 Irish Elite champion winning four of the five rounds with one judge giving him all five frames.
The Irishman tried to use all of his tactical skills, but the Ukrainian was very motivated and landed a lot of punches. McLaughlin was able to turn the heat up in the third round to take a decisive lead against the Ukrainian Champion.
Both sides meet again in Kiev next weekend.
Thunder, the defending WSB champions, won the first four bouts this evening, but Usky Oleksandr secured what could prove to be a crucial win for the visitors after stopping Mattei Modugno in round two.
If the second leg finishes 4-1 to the Otamans, the match will be decided in a middleweight box-off, but McLaughlin can’t compete in the box-off because of the mandatory 10-day rest rule.
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