SAN ANTONIO -- Murodjon Akhmadaliev has spent virtually his entire title reign battling mandatory challengers, illness and injuries.
There appears to be daylight on the horizon for the unbeaten WBA/IBF junior featherweight titlist, who ends a layoff of more than nine months this weekend. Akhmadaliev suffered a broken hand in his previous outing, a 12th round knockout of Ronny Rios in his WBA mandatory title defense last June 25 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas.
The Uzbek southpaw returns to the intimate venue this weekend, where he faces IBF-mandated Marlon Tapales in a scheduled 12-round bout as part of a DAZN quadrupleheader (Saturday 8:00 p.m.).
“I’m happy to finally be back in the ring,” Akhmadaliev told BoxingScene.com. “It’s been a while but I am healthy and ready for this challenge.”
The bout serves in supporting capacity to local hero Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez’s vacant WBO flyweight title fight versus Mexico’s Cristian Gonzalez.
Akhmadaliev (11-0, 8KOs) celebrated his three-year anniversary as a reigning unified titlist which began with a narrow, split decision win over Daniel Roman in their January 2020 thriller. The win came roughly six weeks before Covid brought the world to a screeching halt, which of course put his—and every other fighter’s—career on hold for several months.
The 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist went more than fourteen months without a fight prior to his first title defense. A consolation prize came in the form of a homecoming, as ‘MJ’ turned away IBF mandatory challenger Ryosuke Iwasa in the fifth-round of their April 2021 clash in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Efforts to clear out the WBA mandatory were twice delayed as Akhmadaliev tested positive for Covid which pushed back a fight with Rios to November 2021. The fight suffered another hit when Rios caught the infectious disease which forced him off the show. Akhmadaliev settled for late replacement Jose Velasquez, whom he outpointed over twelve rounds.
The fight with Rios worked its way back to the schedule last June, only for the defending champ to suffer a broken hand midway through their DAZN-aired co-feature.
Akhmadaliev still managed to close the show in style, though at the cost of sitting on the shelf for the rest of the year while waiting for the injury to fully heal. The process included a filed medical exception to delay the negotiation period with the Philippines’ Tapales (36-3, 19KOs), a former WBO bantamweight titlist who has been the number-one contender since last January. A deal was eventually reached against the threat of a purse bid, with Akhmadaliev ready to fully resume his career.
“I expect a great fight from Tapales. He’s my mandatory challenger for a reason, so I am prepared for a tough fight,” noted Akhmadaliev.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox