The first of five bouts at the Hala Mosir sports venue in the Polish city of Szczecin saw a tight flyweight bout between the Hussars’ Hamza Touba and Russia’s Ovik Ogannisian.

Touba, a 24-year-old from Germany, recovered from a slow start to put his opponent on the back foot with a stirring finish, taking a crucial fifth round to give the hosts an early advantage.

The lead was doubled when experienced lightweight Dawid Michelus - stepping out for his 15th WSB contest - capitalised on a brilliant start against Gabil Mamedov, delivering a controlled performance that put the Hussars one bout away from a precious first Group C win.

Russian Boxing Team's Albert Karibian had other ideas though, showing no sign of debut nerves as he got his welterweight bout against 22-year-old Damian Kiwior off to a flying start.

The Polish athlete finished well, but Karibian’s accurate punching and dangerous hooks early on had done enough to earn him the judges’ verdict and make it 2-1.

Another Russian debutant Iaroslav Doronichev then drew the match level, shocking the taller Pawel Wierzbicki with some fierce hooks and taking the contest down to the wire.

That left super heavyweights Arkadiusz Szwedowicz and Pavel Silyagin to decide the outcome, and despite a quick start from Szwedowicz, his opponent’s defence remained tight, from which he launched successful attacks that won him the judges’ decision and his team the match in a remarkable turnaround.

Elsewhere on a busy night of WSB action, Cuba Domadores inflicted a 5-0 defeat on Türkiye Conquerors in Istanbul’s Bağcılar Olympic Sport Hall.

The Conquerors went into the Group A encounter following a morale-boosting victory over China Dragons on the opening weekend of Season VI.

But the visitors proved far too strong as they begun their quest to go one better than last season, when they finished runners-up to Astana Arlans Kazakhstan.

Another team getting their WSB campaign off to a perfect start were the Ukraine Otamans as they registered a whitewash 5-0 win over China Dragons in front of a home crowd in Vinnytsia.

The hosts’ new national light heavyweight champion Denys Solonenko underlined the Ukrainians’ superiority with an attacking display against Shi Guojun, before their super heavyweight Viktor Vykhryst sealed victory by holding off the challenge of Wang Zhibao to take a unanimous decision.

The WSB is due to continue on February 5, when USA Knockouts face Mexico Guerreros, Morocco Atlas Lions meet British Lionhearts and Azerbaijan Baku Fires go up against Uzbek Tigers.