Akhmadaliev stops Espinoza to set up Inoue showdown!
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Just moments ago in Monaco we saw former unified Super Bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10) [Ахмадалиев, Муроджон Кахарович] do what was expected of him, as he stopped Mexican fighter Ricardo Espinoza Franco (30-5-0-1, 25) in 3 rounds to capture the WBA “interim” Super Bantamweight title.
In the opening round we saw very little offensively from “MJ” as he looked to see what the aggressive Espinoza had in the locker. As the round went on MJ’s class began to shine, as he tagged Espinoza with some solid shots, but it was very conservative from the Uzbekistani. In round 2 the former champion began to open up more, landing solid shots up top that really tested Espinoza’s chin. Espinoza did get some solid shots through himself, including a good body shot and a good right hand up top, but they bounced off MJ who returned every solid shot with interest.
Having shaken off some ring rust, found his distance and got a good read on his man, MJ began to go after Espinoza in round 3. He started fast and landed some huge right hooks early, before a combination up top scored the first knockdown of the fight. Espinoza got to his feet but was dropped a second time as he decided to go out on his shield, and fought like a man who felt his best chance was to fight fire with fire. It was a brave decision, but also the wrong one, and despite climbing to his feet a second time, Espinoza really was running on fumes, and was dropped a third time, with the referee waving the bout off.
The win sets Akhmadaliev up for a showdown with Undisputed champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) [井上尚弥], who was supposed to defend the full version of the WBA title, for the third time this year, on December 24th, though that bout has now been delayed a month as Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) suffered a cut in sparring. Given that was supposed to be Inoue’s third defense this year we do need to question why the WBA took the bizarre decision to issue an “interim” title here, something they seem to be doing a lot recently, despite numerous promises over the years to have a single champion per weight class. The move by the WBA to have “interim” titles popping up, as well as their “Champion in Recess”, “Super”, “World” and “Gold”, is farcical, and devalues the idea of a world champion. “Interim” titles do have a place, but the WBA are once again handing them out like candy, as seen with Antonio Vargas’ recent title win, around 2 months after Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8) [堤聖也] won the main title.
In the opening round we saw very little offensively from “MJ” as he looked to see what the aggressive Espinoza had in the locker. As the round went on MJ’s class began to shine, as he tagged Espinoza with some solid shots, but it was very conservative from the Uzbekistani. In round 2 the former champion began to open up more, landing solid shots up top that really tested Espinoza’s chin. Espinoza did get some solid shots through himself, including a good body shot and a good right hand up top, but they bounced off MJ who returned every solid shot with interest.
Having shaken off some ring rust, found his distance and got a good read on his man, MJ began to go after Espinoza in round 3. He started fast and landed some huge right hooks early, before a combination up top scored the first knockdown of the fight. Espinoza got to his feet but was dropped a second time as he decided to go out on his shield, and fought like a man who felt his best chance was to fight fire with fire. It was a brave decision, but also the wrong one, and despite climbing to his feet a second time, Espinoza really was running on fumes, and was dropped a third time, with the referee waving the bout off.
The win sets Akhmadaliev up for a showdown with Undisputed champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) [井上尚弥], who was supposed to defend the full version of the WBA title, for the third time this year, on December 24th, though that bout has now been delayed a month as Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) suffered a cut in sparring. Given that was supposed to be Inoue’s third defense this year we do need to question why the WBA took the bizarre decision to issue an “interim” title here, something they seem to be doing a lot recently, despite numerous promises over the years to have a single champion per weight class. The move by the WBA to have “interim” titles popping up, as well as their “Champion in Recess”, “Super”, “World” and “Gold”, is farcical, and devalues the idea of a world champion. “Interim” titles do have a place, but the WBA are once again handing them out like candy, as seen with Antonio Vargas’ recent title win, around 2 months after Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8) [堤聖也] won the main title.