By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com has been advised by world class trainer Kevin Barry that his fighter Umar Salamov (22-0) will make his first ring appearance of 2017 on the Joseph Parker-Hughie Fury WBO heavyweight title tilt undercard. The action will take place at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Barry's stable of fighters also includes Parker.
The 22-year-old Salamov will face Emil Markic (24-1) for the vacant WBO international light heavyweight title that Andre Ward vacated when he defeated Sergey Kovalev to capture the WBO/WBA/IBF titles last November.
If everything goes well, Dean Lonergan of Duco Events is looking to put Salamov on the July 2nd Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn undercard at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. More than 50,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for the WBO welterweight title fight.
Salamov previously held the WBO and IBO youth light heavyweight titles.
IN OTHER NEWS: This past Friday night, two highly regarded Prospects, featherweight Ruben Villa and junior lightweight Michael Dutchover each made a big splash in their East Coast debut's as they took out opponents Luis Diaz and Eder Amaro at the MGM National Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland.
Villa stopped Luis Diaz in the 6th and final round of their bout, while Dutchover took out Amaro after the 3rd round of their scheduled six-round bout.
With the wins, the 19 year-olds (Villa turned 20 on Sunday), Villa raised his perfect mark to 5-0 with three knockouts, Dutchover kept his perfect stoppage streak, and is now 4-0 with 4 knockouts.
Villa and Dutchover are promoted by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing.
"I was very proud of both Ruben and Michael. They did terrific. It was their first fight on the East Coast in their young career's. They both performed at the high level that I always knew they would, and I am more than pleased about the progress they continue to make with each outing," said Banner Promotions President, Artie Pelullo.
"In their knockout wins, both Ruben and Michael showed great command of the ring," said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing Promotions. "They are far more advanced than their records would indicate. It hasn't been even a year since their professional debuts and we've already seen tremendous growth."
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