By Jake Donovan
The East Coast debut of unified 122-pound titlist Daniel Roman will have to come another day, as will his next title defense.
A shoulder injury suffered during training camp has bumped the red-hot California native from a planned Sept. 13 mandatory title defense versus Murojdon Akhmadaliev (6-0, 5KOs). The bout was due to take place live on DAZN from Hulu Theater in New York City.
“Roman is off the (Sept. 13th show),” Alex Camponovo, general manager and executive matchmaker of Thompson Boxing, Roman’s longtime promoter told BoxingScene.com on Tuesday. “We are waiting for the final results—possibly this morning (Pacific Time)—to know the extent of the injury, treatment and recovery.”
ESPN’s Steve Kim was the first to report Roman’s left shoulder injury, which—according to manager Eddie Gonzalez—occurred two weeks ago during a sparring session. Efforts to allow time—and science–to heal the injury in time to proceed with the fight proved futile.
Roman (27-2-1, 10KOs) was due to make the fifth overall defense of a title reign which began on the road. The streaking super bantamweight celebrates his two-year anniversary as a reigning titlist on Tuesday, the run beginning with a 9th round knockout of previously unbeaten Shun Kubo in Kyoto, Japan. He remained in the Far East for his first defense, scoring a 12-round decision over Ryo Matsumoto last February in Tokyo.
The win kicked off a three-fight campaign in 2018, which concluded with his first fight under the Matchroom Boxing USA banner, with whom Thompson Boxing entered a co-promotional deal. With the move came two straight appearances on DAZN, including the platform’s first-ever live stream from the United States in a 10th round stoppage of England’s Gavin McDonnell last October in Chicago, Ill.
From there came his biggest win to date, upending previously unbeaten TJ Doheny over 12 rounds to unify two titles at 122 pounds in a terrific fight this past April in Inglewood, Calif. The bout was the first back at home for Los Angeles’ Roman since his last non-title fight back in Jan. 2017.
Next up was a trip to New York City—having never fought any further east in the United States than Chicago—for a dangerous showdown versus Uzbekistan’s Akhmadaliev (6-0, 5KOs). The bout was ordered by the World Boxing Association shortly after both last fought in separate contests on the same April show in Inglewood.
In supporting capacity to Roman’s win over Doheny, Akhmadaliev remained active with a 3rd round stoppage of Carlos Carlson. His placement on the card came in agreement to his stepping aside in allowing the bout, having earned his mandatory ranking in just his fifth pro bout following a 9th round knockout of Isaac Zarate last November.
News of the injury means the 24-year young contender will have to wait for his first title fight, although the news hasn’t sat well with his team.
“There are rumors that someone in the promotional/managerial team of Danny Roman has been “injured” ever since the negotiations period and the purse bid for the fight, hence they couldn’t communicate at all on the fight or attend the purse bid,” Vadim Kornilov, Akhmadaliev’s manager stated through social media in response to the news. “But Danny Roman as a Real Mexican World Champion pushed for the Murojdon Akhmadaliev fight to happen because he remembered how he was the mandatory to fight Shun Kubo for the WBA World Title 2 years ago, and Kubo gave him the opportunity and fought him clean and clear even though he only won the title in his previous fight (“Samurai” Japanese pride)!
“Trying to figure out where the truth is?”
The balance of the show remains intact. Headlining the DAZN livestream, Devin Haney (22-0, 14KOs) faces Russia’s Zaur Abduallev in a 12-round title eliminator between unbeaten lightweight contenders. Also on the bill is a highly anticipated all-Brooklyn (N.Y.) showdown between unbeaten featherweight titlist Heather Hardy (22-0, 4KOs) and record-breaking seven-division titlist Amanda Serrano (36-1-1, 27KOs).
Michael Hunter and unbeaten Sergey Kuzmin—whom is also managed by Kornilov—collide in a 10-round heavyweight bout as well on the show.
An update has yet to be provided to BoxingScene.com as to whether either bout will be elevated to the evening’s chief support, or if Akhmadaliev will remain on the card and versus a new opponent.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
