The squad were returning to the 16-team WSB, after opting out of last year's tournament, with the prospect of facing high quality opposition and securing places for Rio 2016 a clear motivation.

The Lionhearts will be hoping to build upon a credible performance in the 2012 to 2013 series which saw them eventually defeated by Mexico in the quarter finals.

However they tasted defeat in their first bout of the opening Group A match, after Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ashley Williams was beaten in the light flyweight division by Junjun He.

He, a silver medallist at the 2014 China Open claimed victory in three rounds to put the China Dragons into the lead in the contest, but parity was restored in a tight bantamweight clash between the Lionhearts Qais Ashfaq and the Dragons Diao Jianhao.

Despite Jianhao's early dominance of the bout, Ashfaq found his rhythm to see the Commonwealth silver medallist win by a split decision, with two judges verdicts deciding that Ashfaq had won by a single round 48:47, while the third judge viewed that Jianhao had won every round, scoring the contest at 50:45.

The turnaround was completed by Sam Maxwell, who used his previous experience in the WSB to good effect, cruising to a comprehensive win over Touliaowutayi Sarike in the light welterweight division, with all the judges giving Maxwell victory in every round and a comfortable overall win.

The decisive fourth bout of the first match of Season V saw AIBA World Championship bronze medallist Anthony Fowler seal a triumph for the British Lionhearts.

Anthony Fowler claimed victory after an accidental clash of heads ended his Middleweight fight ©Getty Images



His middleweight fight with Zhou Di saw three rounds of excellent boxing, before an accidental clash of heads saw the contest come to an end, with Fowler suffering from a cut to his forehead.

The judges gave a Fowler the verdict, with two 30:26 scorecards giving the Lionhearts an unassailable lead, ensuring that the defeat suffered in the final bout by the overseas member of the team Inout-Mirel Jitaru would not have impact on the overall outcome.

"It is good to start the season with a win," said Dave Alloway, coach of the British Lionhearts, after the 3-2 victory.

"We had a couple of debutants in the team tonight and we knew it was going to be tough so to come away with a victory is a satisfying start and gives us a good platform to build on.

"Our younger boxers have gained some valuable experience and our older ones have shown they have what it takes to get results in this competition so we can go away happy with the result and several aspects of the performance."

Following the victory the British Lionhearts will face two away fixtures against the Ukraine Otamans in Kyiv and the Morocco Atlas Lions in Casablanca, on January 23 and 30 respectively.

Meanwhile the China Dragons will look to bounce back from the opening night defeat in their next fixture against the Russian Boxing team.

Three more matches involving other teams take place tomorrow: defending champions Cuba Domadores face Morocco Atlas Lions, Ukraine Otamans clash with the Mexico Guerroros and the Russia Boxing Team are up against Algeria Desert Hawks.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015: Olympic qualification on the agenda at World Series of Boxing Season V
November 2014: Puerto Rico Hurricanes storm into WSB Season V
October 2014: Morocco Atlas Lions latest franchise to sign up to World Series of Boxing
February 2014: AIBA reveal IOC approved qualification system for Rio 2016
July 2013: British Lionhearts to miss next WSB season because of Home Nations row