Batyrzhan Jukembayev has rebounded well from his lone loss.
A win against a fringe contender could put him in a position to face the best fighters at 140 pounds.
Jukembayev will face Mohamed Mimoune Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The 10-round junior welterweight bout will headline a four-bout card that will stream live on ProBox TV (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
At Tuesday’s weigh-in, Jukembayev weighed in at 139.8 pounds. Mimoune came in at 139.6 pounds.
The Jukembayev-Mimoune fight is a crossroads clash between junior welterweights where the winner enters legitimate contender status in a stacked 140-pound division. ProBox TV senior producer Chris Glovers believes both will take risks that could make the fight a compelling and action fight.
“The winner of (Wednesday’s) fight will look to challenge the top names at 140 pounds,” Glovers told The Ring Monday night. “They’re both at that level.
“Jukembayev was in the fight against (IBF world junior welterweight titleholder Subriel) Matias. He’s an avoided fighter and at that level at 140 pounds. He has (trainer Brian) ‘BoMac’ (McIntyre) in his corner. Mimoune is coming off a win over Steven Galeano (who was unbeaten going into the Mimoune fight). He has all the confidence in the world and both will be looking for the knockout against the other. It’s going to be a banger of a fight. The winner will be a top-10 fighter.”
The 32-year-old (21-1, 16 knockouts), who is originally from Shu, Kazakhstan and now resides in Montreal, Canada, won a hard-fought split-decision over Hugo Alberto Roldan in his last fight on September 20. Jukembayev had not fought since December 24 of last year, stopping Xolani Mcotheli in the sixth round.
Jukembayev has won his last three fights since the technical knockout loss to Matias in May 2021 and is now trained by Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre
Mimoune (23-5, 4 KOs) stopped Galeano in the sixth round of his last bout on July 26. In his previous fight on March 25 of last year, Mimoune lost by unanimous decision to then-unbeaten Cesar Francis.
The 36-year-old Mimoune, who is originally from Toulouse, France and now resides in Plant City, has also lost to former world titleholder Viktor Postol and once-beaten Tyrone McKenna. He is currently trained by Roy Jones, Jr.
In the co-feature, junior welterweight prospect Kelvin Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) of Norfolk, Virginia will square off against Clarence Booth in an eight-round bout. Davis was victorious in his last bout on October 14, defeating Narciso Carmona by unanimous decision.
The 27-year-old Davis is the older brother of lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis.
Booth (21-8, 13 KOs), who resides in nearby Saint Petersburg, lost to unbeaten Luis Feliciano by unanimous decision in his last bout on April 1.
In a clash of unbeaten light heavyweights, Najee Lopez (8-0, 7 KOs) of Ellenwood, Georgia will face Miami, Florida’s Yildo Depestre (7-0, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
Opening the ProBox TV stream will be a six-round junior lightweight bout between Dominic Valle (7-0, 5 KOs) of Lutz, Florida and Jenel Lausa (11-1, 7 KOs) of the Philippines.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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