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Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk suffered narrow defeats one week apart.
They now turn to teach other in hopes of a return to the win column.
A terrific junior middleweight matchup will serve as the co-feature to the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury heavyweight championship rematch. Both bouts will take place on Dec. 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Madrimov-Bohachuk was confirmed on Tuesday by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
“Before the two giants collide in Fury v Usyk Reignited, the undercard is set to light up the ring,” Alalshikh stated. “With some of the biggest names in boxing stepping into the ring, these matchups will set the stage for an unforgettable night.”
Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 knockouts) is rated No. 2 at 154 by The Ring. Ukraine’s Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 6-rated junior middleweight. Both boxers train in California.
The bout will come a little more than four months after their most recent bouts.
Madrimov dropped a narrow decision to Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to end his WBA junior middleweight title reign. Their bout topped the Aug. 3 Riyadh Season show at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
The event marked the U.S. debut of the Riyadh Season series headed by Alalshikh. Madrimov won his title on the March 8 ‘Knockout Chaos’ card in Riyadh, when he stopped unbeaten Magomed Kurbanov (25-1, 13 KOs) in the fifth round.
That win came after an elevent-month layoff while awaiting his overdue title shot. Madrimov will now fight for the third time in 2024, all on Riyadh Season events.
Bohachuk came up just short in his Fight of the Year-worthy slugfest versus Vergil Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) in Las Vegas. Their Aug. 10 battle saw Ortiz survive two knockdowns to win a decision in his first career distance fight.
It was the second straight fight to go to the scorecards for Bohachuk after his first 24 all ended in knockout. He outpointed Brian Mendoza on March 30 in Las Vegas. The win earned Bohachuk the interim WBC 154-pound title, which he lost to Ortiz.
Like Madrimov, Bohachuk will also enter his third fight of the year.
Also confirmed for the undercard:
Romford, London’s Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs) faces faded veteran David Allen (23-6-2, 18 KOs) in an all-UK heavyweight battle;
England’s Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) meets Australia’s Demsey McKean (22-1, 14 KOs) in a heavyweight bout scheduled for ten or twelve rounds;
Unbeaten southpaw Dennis ‘The Menace’ McCann (16-0-1, 8 KOs) collides with Peter McGrail (10-1, 6 KOs) at junior featherweight;
Fury stablemate Isaac ‘To Bums’ Lowe (25-2-3, 8 KOs) and Lee McGregor (14-1-1, 11 KOs) square off in a battle of British featherweights
Headlining the show, Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) attempts the third defense of his RING heavyweight championship versus Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs). Their bout comes seven months after Usyk’s narrow win over Fury in their May 18 thriller to fully unify all the heavyweight titles.
The first true undisputed heavyweight championship since 1999 saw Ukraine’s Usyk keep all the belts intact for barely a month. He vacated the IBF belt, which saw Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) upgraded from interim titlist in time to face and defeat Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) on Sept. 21 in London.
Usyk still holds The Ring championship as well as the WBA, WBC and WBO belts. He claimed the WBC title in his win over Fury, who held that strap since Feb. 2020. The hulking Brit twice held The Ring championship and briefly held the WBA, IBF and WBO titles in another lifetime.
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