Mumbai Fighters set to slug it out against Milano Thunder

Milan: In what promises to be a tough road ahead, Venky`s Mumbai Fighters enter the second phase of the 2011-12 World Series of Boxing with a round six match against Milano Thunder.

Standing fifth in the points table in Group A, the Fighters have their task cut out against the Italian team at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago. The five-boxer squad on the Milan sojourn will have to fight their skins out to keep the Indian outfit in with a chance in the playoff stage. In Bantamweight, Jitender Kumar will fight Vitaliy Volkov. Volkov beat Balbir Singh when the Italian team had come to India last November. Jitender, on the other hand, has one win (walkover) and one loss to his name this season. Diwakar Prasad, who had beaten Juan Javier Carrasco Herrera of Milano Thunder, will meet Miklas Vargo in the Lightweight category. The boxer from Milano team has already lost his first match of the season against Vazgen Safaryants of Dynamo Moscow. Middleweight will see Mandeep Jhangra taking on William McLaughlin. This will be Jhangra`s second match this season after he lost his debut match against Dynamo Moscow in Moscow. Marko Calic will finally get into action after getting a walkover in his previous match against LA Matadors. The Light Heavyweight boxer will take on Ludovic Groguhe. Groguhe has been in cracking form after he beat defending Light Heavyweight champ Abdelhafid Benchabla via a Technical Knock Out (TKO) in his first match this season. He then beat Dynamo Moscow`s Eduard Yakushev in his second match this season. In the heavyweight category, Mumbai Fighters` new recruit Mihai Muntean will take on Michal Olas. Muntean has a 3-3 WSB record while fighting for Baku Fires in the last season. PTI