- Tell me, how satisfied are you with the result of today's match?

- Of course, I wanted to perform better... But I think that the judges took Askhat Ualikhanov’s fight away from us - that’s my opinion. He only lost the first round. In the following ones, Askhat was cleaner, more accurate and more deserving of victory. They say that a hard victory is better than a beautiful defeat. It is clear that we are now in the danger zone, but in Baku our team will try to repeat today's result.

- Madi Shulakov said in an interview that the judges took away his victory today...

- Madi lost. It is clear that the fight was equal, but there was no activity. There were rounds where Madi won, but mostly he spent the fight passively. He could have done a better job.

- Many people are interested in the question of why the collections were not involved in such an important match?

- You must understand that these three collections are now being prepared in Almaty, and they will fly to Baku. Generally speaking, we work closely with the national team. We understand perfectly well that we and the national team have our own tasks and training systems. I hope the collections will be ready by the time of departure - they will definitely go to Baku.

- The guests said before the match that it would be nice for them to lose in Astana with a score of 2:3...

- Of course, we believe that if the first match ended with a score of 3:2, then this is a dangerous zone. Therefore, in the future you will need to work twice as hard.

- Did the stands help you today?

- Yes, sure. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank everyone for coming to the boxing and supporting our team.

- Your first match in Astana - how successful was it in terms of atmosphere? After all, there was an opinion that “Astana Arlans” was moving to Almaty due to greater public interest...

- Friends, let's take into account that every season begins in November. And in the first two seasons, throughout the entire autumn-winter period, the team, if you remember, essentially sat indoors... And after it gets a little warmer, the boxers go for a run - and already have problems with the throat... This is the main reason . Weather conditions do not allow. I believe that those fans who divide Astana and Almaty are wrong - this is our country. We planned to hold quarterfinal fights here. However, it so happened that all the arenas in the capital were occupied. According to the plan, we were supposed to box with the Germans here, but at that time there were many different competitions in Astana, and there was simply nowhere to box. Today our “Arlans” showed good boxing and pleased the audience.

- What can you say about the location of the WSB finals?

- There is no data on this issue yet. It was reported that the final match might be held in London. However, today I learned that London has already refused. I think that the decision on the location of the final will be made after the semi-final fights. This is WSB's priority and we will find out soon.

- Is this interesting for Kazakhstan?

- You know, it seems to me that this is not very interesting because you have to respect other teams. We would be happy to perform at any other venue, but it would be better for the final to take place on neutral territory.

- Some people believe that if Astana Arlans fails to defend the championship title, the season will be regarded as unsuccessful?

- Of course, it will be very disappointing if we cannot win the Cup. We are still working hard to achieve this goal... This is a sport, I will not say that we will win everyone, but we fall asleep and wake up with the thought of defending the WSB Cup!

Author: Anuar Abdrakhmanov
www.sports.kz