Akhmadaliev-Espinoza set for interim belt after Inoue exception
Bout headlines Matchroom Boxing's 'Monte-Carlo Showdown V' card
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Former unified junior featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev is the WBA mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Naoya Inoue, but since he won’t get that fight next, Akhmadaliev will face Ricardo Espinoza for the organization’s interim belt.
The fight will headline Matchroom Boxing’s “Monte-Carlo Showdown V” on Dec. 14 (DAZN) at Salle Des Etoiles at Sporting Monte-Carlo in Monaco, the promoter announced on Sunday.
Inoue previously was ordered to make the mandatory defense against Akhmadaliev but instead knocked out former titlist TJ Doheny in an optional defense on Sept. 3 with the WBA ignoring that it had ordered the mandatory.
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Now Inoue is set to face IBF/WBO mandatory challenger Sam Goodman on Dec. 24 in Tokyo after the WBA approved a request from Inoue on Oct. 22 for a “special permit” that would all him to face Goodman with the WBA title still in the mix.
That request was approved, according to a WBA resolution, a copy of which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite.
In the resolution, the WBA outlined the requirements for the approval:
The Inoue-Goodman winner (or Inoue in the event of a draw) must face Akhmadaliev (assuming he defeats Espinoza) in a mandatory defense within four months (120 days) of the fight.
Within one week after the Dec. 24 bout, the Inoue-Goodman winner must notify the WBA weather he will fight Akhmadaliev. “Failure to do so will result in revocation/withdrawal of the title recognition,” the resolution said.
Akhmadaliev is authorized to fight for the vacant WBA interim title against Espinoza, who is No. 13 in the WBA’s 122-pound rankings.
Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs), 29, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, lost his unified WBA/IBF title to Marlon Tapales via split decision in April 2023 (and then Inoue knocked out Tapales in the 10th round to become the undisputed champion). In his only fight since losing his belts, Akhmadaliev stopped then-unbeaten Kevin Gonzalez in the eighth round last December.
“I’m happy to be going back to work,” Akhmadaliev said. “It looks like that pound-for-pound star (Inoue) is not ready for big challenges. He can continue running away, but I will get what should be mine anyway.”
Espinoza (30-4, 25 KOs), 27, of Mexico, who has won two fights by knockout against lesser opposition this year, has lost the two times he stepped up to face top competition: a 12th-round knockout in an interim bantamweight title bout to three-division titlist John Riel Casimero in 2019 and a 10-round decision to former unified junior featherweight titlist Daniel Roman in 2021.
In the co-feature, Beatriz Ferreira (5-0, 2 KOs), 31, a two-time Brazilian Olympian, will defend the IBF women’s lightweight title for the first time when he faces Licia Boudersa (23-2-2, 4 KOs), 32, of France.
In April, Ferreira won the vacant title by sixth-round technical decision against Yanina del Carmen in Liverpool, England. Following the victory, Ferreira, who claimed an Olympic silver medal in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics before turning pro, took advantage of professionals being allowed to compete in the Olympics and boxed at this past summer’s Paris Games, where she settled for a bronze medal.
“I’m very excited to be back in the ring and making the first defense of my world title,” Ferreira said. “I am very proud to have finished my Olympic journey as a two-time medalist but from now on my focus is 100 percent on the professionals and I am excited about this next phase in my career and dedicating myself fully to professional boxing.
“My opponent is very experienced and has won many (regional) titles in the past, so I'm looking forward to the challenge and then I hope to move into big unification fights and add more world Titles in 2025.”
Also on the card:
British cruiserweight champion Chev Clarke (10-0, 7 KOs), 33, a southpaw from England, will fight Leonardo Mosquea (15-0, 9 KOs), 30, of France, for the vacant European title.
Lightweight Gary Cully (18-1, 10 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Ireland, will defend his regional belt against British southpaw Maxi Hughes (27-7-2, 6 KOs), 34, who is seeking a second win in a row following back-to-back losses in the United States to top contender William Zepeda by fourth-round knockout in March and by majority decision to former unified champion George Kambosos in July 2023.
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