First, we start on Friday night in Montreal as Gabrel Maestre of Argentina faces Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine in a WBA eliminator.
You may remember Maestre as the two-time Olympian that was given a WBA "interim" title fight in his third pro fight, was dominated by Mykal Fox last August in a decision so bad that the WBA was warned about their 3,000 titles and scared them enough to begin to reduce the amount of their "Dollar Tree" titles.
Still, for all of that, it is Maestre with a slot in the eliminator-Not Fox and that says something about the WBA as well.
The undefeated, former Olympic bronze medalist Shelestyuk has fought his share of decent opponents on his way to his 18-0 record but that's not many fights for a fighter that's been a pro for nine years and at thirty-six, Shelestyuk is like Maestre (35 in July) in a position that losses at this level could essentially end any hopes of title contention.
It truly is a hard fight to call between two former Olympians with great amateur pedigrees and very little on their pro record to sell themselves.
Saturday, the WBA is back in the spotlight with a minor title that means more than their usual "title" fights as Matchroom present their minor champion at featherweight in Leigh Wood against Michael Conlan of Ireland in a twelve rounder that will see the winner face the long-inactive at the weight, Leo Santa Cruz for the actual title.
Wood's win over a quality fighter in Xu Can and Santa Cruz not having a fight at the weight for over three years and counting, makes Wood's title a little more legitimate than the usual WBA dreck.
Conlan fights for Top Rank but Matchroom won the purse bid and the right to promote the bout from Nottingham, England.
Wood appeared to level off at the European level after losing a decision to Jazza Dickens in 2020 but his stunning knockout win in the final round over China's Xu Can revitalized his career and a win over the unbeaten former Olympian Conlan would move Wood into another level in the division.
The highly touted Conlan enters this fight after his biggest win, a unanimous decision win over former IBF junior featherweight T.J. Doheny but after scoring knockouts in his first four fights, has scored only four in his next twelve since.
The question for Conlan is does he possess enough power to compete with the elite of the division?
The question for Wood is did he find lightning in a bottle against Xu Can or has he turned a corner in his career?
I think this fight, just as Maestre-Shelestyuk, could go either way and might make an interesting pairing in a mandated fight against Leo Santa Cruz.
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