Three Outstanding Prospects Embellish Saturday’s Boxing Slate

Three Outstanding Prospects Embellish Saturday’s Boxing Slate

The most delicious fight on the Saturday, April 3 menu will be contested in Dubai where Belfast’s Carl Frampton will attempt to make history as the first Irish fighter to win world titles in three weight divisions. Standing in the way is WBO 130-pound champion Jamel Herring. It’s a true “pick-‘em” fight at offshore bookmaking establishments, a rarity in boxing. ESPN+ will televise and it will air on Channel 5 in the UK.

Another interesting card is being held in Kashkent, the capitol city of Uzbekistan. There’s never been a bigger professional boxing event in that Central Asian nation and DAZN will be on hand to capture the action.

What both shows have in common are a slew of outstanding prospects in undercard fights. Listed below are three fighters who appear to have very big upsides.

BAKHODIR JALOLOV / heavyweight / 7-0 (7 KOs)

Carrying about 250 pounds on his six-foot-seven frame, Jalolov, a southpaw, was a member of the Uzbekistan Olympic Team that won a staggering seven medals, including three gold, at the 2016 Rio Games. Jalolov had to settle for a bronze after losing a decision to Joe Joyce in the quarterfinals.

Jalolov (pictured) turned pro at Foxwoods in Connecticut. All of his pro fights, with the exception of his most recent fight in Mexico, were held in the United States. Saturday’s fight in Kashkent marks his professional homecoming. His opponent is a 30-year-old Latvian who brings a 7-1-2 record.

Jalolov’s signature win came at the amateur level. On Sept. 18, 2019, in Ekaterinburg, Russia, he starched Richard Torrez Jr with a pulverizing left in the opening round. Torrez, America’s most widely-written-about amateur boxer, was unconscious before he hit the canvas and was removed from the ring on a stretcher. Thankfully, he was able to resume his boxing career.

The fight caused a bit of a stink because Jalolov already had six pro fights under his belt. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, one of the most vocal critics of the rule that permits pros to compete in the Olympics, was particularly hackled.

KEYSHAWN DAVIS / lightweight / 1-0 (1 KO)

The team that the United States will field in the Tokyo Olympics has been gutted by defections and expulsions. Keyshawn Davis fits into the latter. Potentially the best fighter to come out of Norfolk, Virginia, since Pernell Whitaker, Davis was removed from USA Boxing in January for violating “Athlete Selection Procedures,” whatever that means.

Within a week of this announcement, Davis signed a contract with Matchroom. He made his pro debut on Feb. 27 in Miami underneath Canelo vs. Yildirim with a second-round stoppage of his Bahamian opponent. The following day he celebrated his 22^nd birthday.

Talk to folks with intimate knowledge of Team USA and they will tell you that Davis had the best chance of any American of winning a medal in Tokyo. His last two losses as an amateur came in competitive fights with Andy Cruz, the gifted Cuban who just may be the top pound-for-pound amateur in the world.

Davis has sparred with Teofimo Lopez and Gervonta Davis, likely future opponents, albeit those match-ups won’t transpire any time soon. On Saturday he fights at Caesars Palace Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the Frampton vs. Herring card. Keyshawn is matched against a mystery fighter from Ghana who brings a 10-1 (9) record in a scheduled 6-rounder. (Top Rank fighters and a Matchroom fighter on the same card. Do we have a breakthrough here? Ah, but I digress.)

TURSYNBAY KULAKHMET / super welterweight / 2-0 (1 KO)

A 27-year-old super welterweight from Kazakhstan, Kulakhmet went 10 rounds in only his second pro fight, pitching a shutout (save for the round in which he was docked a point) in Wakefield, England, over Macauley McGowan, a fighter who brought a 14-0-1 record. Kulakhmet then remained in the U.K. to refine his skills under the noted trainer Jamie Moore who handles Carl Frampton, among others.

Kulakhmet is also on the Dubai card where he is pitted against Venezuela’s Heber Rondon (20-0, 13 KOs) in a battle of southpaws. Down the road a potential opponent is Israil Madrimov, the brilliant Uzbek fighter who has climbed the WBA ratings at warp-speed and is currently rated #1 by that organization at 154 pounds. Kulakhmet split two fights with Madrimov as an amateur. (And by the way, Madrimov, 6-0 as a pro, is also in action tomorrow, joining Bakhodir Jalolov in Tashkent in what for him is also a homecoming fight.)

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