Kornilov is Real High on Akhmedov and Akhmadaliev

By Steve Kim

Vadim Kornilov, best known for having managed Ruslan Provodnikov and current WBA light heavyweight belt-holder, Dmitry Bivol, is bullish on the futures of two prospects, who are being moved very quickly - junior welterweight Batyr Akhmedov and super bantamweight, Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

Akhmedov (who is Russian) improved to 5-0 (4 KO's) by stopping veteran Ismael Barroso in nine rounds last weekend in Los Angeles, after suffering a knockdown early in the fight. And Kornilov is putting Akhmedov on the fast track, telling BoxingScene.com,"We're going to try to see if we can get him closer to the mandatory position with the WBA."

This bout was for the WBA Inter-Continental 140-pound title.

With the World Boxing Super Series doing their latest tournament in that division, Kornilov says, "We're going to have to be a little patient but we're going to try to push him to a mandatory position (as soon as possible). He'll keep fighting, we're going to bring him back in a couple of months, again."

Akhmadaliev, an aspiring bantamweight, stopped Ramon Contreras in the first round in Costa Mesa on Thursday night. A 2016 Olympian, he turned pro this past March and now has a record of 4-0 (3 KO's).

"It was his fourth professional bout he won the WBA Inter-Continental title and he's only 23 so we're going to get him a couple more fights but he's amazing," said Kornilov.

"He's got these great body shots, he dropped this guy in the first round, one of the first shows he landed was a liver shot and it dropped him. This is his second or third time he's dropped guys with liver shots."

Like Akhmedov, Akhmadaliev (who hails from Uzbekistan) is trained by Joel Diaz.

"He's pretty exciting, I really like him. He reminds me a bit of Manny Pacquiao when he was younger. He's also a southpaw and his style is interesting. He's really light on his feet and very multi-dimensional. A very exciting fighter to watch," stated Kornilov.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.