2023 world champion and double champion of Russia Sharabutdin Ataev On February 16 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), he will fight for the IBA belt in the weight category up to 86 kg against the bronze medalist of the 2020 Olympic Games, Azerbaijanis of Cuban origin Lorena Alfonso. The organizers of the show informed .
The fight will last 10 rounds and will headline the next IBA Night of Champions series tournament. Unlike Alfonso, Atayev has experience in the professional ring. The Russian has six victories (4 by KO). The last time Ataev entered the ring was in October, also at the IBA Night of Champions tournament, also in Dushanbe, when he beat Uzbekistan’s Azizbek Abdugofurov ahead of schedule.
Alfonso is the 2021 world champion and the winner of the 2019 European Games.
The upcoming fight will be the fourth in the head-to-head between Atayev and Alfonso, and so far the score of the confrontation is in favor of the Russian. These athletes first met in the quarterfinals of the 2021 World Championships, when Alfonso was stronger by the majority of the judges’ decisions. But then Ataev won, and exclusively in the final – first in February 2023 by unanimous decision at an international tournament in Morocco, then in May by split decision at the World Championships in Tashkent.
In the co-main event of the tournament in Dushanbe, the IBF mandatory challenger in the second featherweight division will be determined. Former IBF champion of this division Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (17-1-1, KO 14) from Tajikistan will meet Mexican Eduardo Nunez (25-1, KO 25).
Also at the tournament in Tajikistan, the opponent of Russian Vsevolod Shumkov will be determined in the fight for the IBA 57 kg belt. 2019 world and Asian champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (4-0, KO 3) of Uzbekistan will meet Mexican Luis Rodriguez Ocana (15-0, KO 14) in a challenger match.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
