The Verona, New Yorkmain event is about as even as you'll find with undefeated Otabek Kholmatov tackling fellow unbeaten Raymond Ford for the vacant WBA featherweight title that was dropped by Leigh Wood.
Top Rank, who promotes Kholmatov, narrowly won the purse bid over Ford's promoter, Matchroom, so this is a semi-rare cross-promotional fight and an even rarer occasion with both fighters without a defeat on their record.
Kholmatov has looked devastating in his wins, especially against Thomas Patrick Ward, which is the win that placed him in the mandatory position, as Kholmatov knocked the previously unbeaten Ward three times in five rounds and forced Ward's corner to stop the fight.
The issue for Kholmatov is that Ward is his only solid win and Ward needs to gain the skills of the versatile Raymond Ford, so while Kholmatov looks to have all the boxes checked for a potential stat, he'll have to prove it in this one.
I thought Ford was gifted a split decision in February 2022 against Edward Vasquez and I wondered if Ford was going to put all his skills together after that fight. Still, since then Ford has impressed with a dominant decision over unbeaten Richard Medina, stopping one-loss Sakaria Lukas in eight, and dropped former junior featherweight champion Jessie Magdaleno twice in an easy decision win.
You could make a case for either fighter, and I can see it that way, which is why I am excited about this fight.
It's evenly matched with Kholmatov the bigger puncher with Ford having the speed and skill advantage. and I expect it to be a good fight.
The co-feature will also be for a featherweight title as IBF boss Luis Alberto Lopez defends against his mandatory challenger, Japan's Reiya Abe.
Lopez is the most proven fighter on the card but is a solid favorite over Abe, so it made sense to have his bout as the co-feature.
Lopez has won twelve in a row since his only career loss ( a decision defeat to former title challenger Ruben Villa) included his beatdown of Top Rank's touted Gabriel Flores in a beating so bad that it essentially ruined Flores's career, did the same to Tyson Fury's pal Issac Lowe, traveled to England to win his title in Josh Warrington's hometown, and defended his title twice as he knocked out Michael Conlan in Conlan's native Ireland, and won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Joet Gonzalez.
Abe won a unanimous decision over former champion Kiko Martinez to win a title eliminator but Martinez is well past his prime, and Martinez is the only name fighter on the record of Abe, so Lopez is a deserved favorite.
Should Lopez and Kholmatov win their fights, a unification fight later this year is very possible with both fighters with Top Rank as the WBO champion Rafael Espinoza and former champion Robeisy Ramirez are as well.
Espinoza and Ramirez are rumored to be rematched later this year, so the winner is in the unification mix as well.
Should Raymond Ford win Saturday night, one doesn't know what Matchroom's plans would be for Ford.
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