Abraham Nova: Fans Will Know Who I Am After I Beat Avery Sparrow

Abraham Nova is looking forward to impressively introducing himself to unfamiliar fight fans Thursday night.

Nova is 18-0, has knocked out 14 of his opponents and is ranked in the top 10 by two sanctioning organizations at 130 pounds. The Albany, New York, resident hasn’t fought on a stage this big, though, and hasn’t faced an opponent as good as Avery Sparrow since he turned pro four years ago.

“It’s a great fight,” Nova told BoxingScene.com. “The kid has great skills and a high boxing IQ. He’s a sharp fighter. That’s why we were excited to fight him, because we felt he was gonna bring a lot out of me, so I could display my talent in front of the world.

“I’m gonna show a lot of people my skills and talent that they haven’t seen from me. I know a lot of fighters and a lot of fans don’t know who I am, but come Thursday night, they’re gonna know who ‘Super’ Nova is.”

The 26-year-old Nova views this fight with Sparrow, which ESPN will televise from Las Vegas, as a chance to move closer to a world title shot. Nova is ranked sixth by the WBA and seventh by the WBO at 130 pounds.

The native Puerto Rican is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., which also represents 130-pound champions Miguel Berchelt (WBC) and Jamel Herring (WBO).

“They’ve got two title-holders in my weight class,” Nova said, “so it’d be a great way to bump up, get a world title and then eventually unify. So, I’m excited to be in the position I’m in right now. But first and foremost, I’ve gotta stay focused on Avery Sparrow. After that, the rest comes.”

Sparrow, who’s also 26, hasn’t fought since March 2019.

The Philadelphia native was arrested the day he was supposed to weigh in for his fight against unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) on September 14 in Carson, California (https://www.boxingscene.com/sparrow-arrested-over-april-gun-incident-ryan-garcia-fight-off--142517). His subsequent bout – a November 23 appearance against James Wilkins (9-1, 6 KOs) in Indio, California – was canceled November 21 because a dehydrated Sparrow was hospitalized.

His struggles aside, Sparrow (10-1, 3 KOs, 1 NC) is a talented boxer who has lost only once, by disqualification in October 2015.

“It’ll be my best win to date,” Nova said. “I feel it should get me a lot closer to a title shot. If my next fight’s not for a title, I would definitely get a title eliminator after [beating Sparrow]. That would mean everything. That’s why I’m in the sport. I’m here to become a world champion. To take another step closer, it’ll be thrilling. I’ll be excited to be that much closer to my goals.”

Nova and Sparrow will meet at a catch weight of 132 pounds. Their 10-rounder will be part of a six-bout broadcast that’ll feature Australia’s Jason Moloney (20-1, 17 KOs) and Leonardo Baez (18-2, 9 KOs, 1 NC) in the main event, a 10-round bantamweight bout.

ESPN’s telecast is slated to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.