Andreas Katzourakis hopes to make a statement at the expense of a former top contender.
Katzourakis will face Kudratillo Abdukakhorov on May 31, OTX Boxing officially announced Wednesday. Also announced was the clash between Robert Terry and Vladimir Hernandez.
Both 10-round fights will take place at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Katzourakis’ adopted hometown of Houston, Texas and will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
Both fights are part of The OTX Tournament, an eight-man contest that has already had two fights decided in their opening round. On April 19, Brandon Adams of Los Angeles knocked out Israel Villarreal of The Bronx, New York and Francisco Veron of Argentina scored a unanimous decision victory over Mexico’s Angel Ruiz.
Katzourakis (12-0, 10 knockouts), who is originally from Athens, Greece, last fought on January 20, winning by knockout after round three after opponent Corey Caad did not answer the bell for round four. In his previous fight on August 25, Katzourakis broke down Raphael Igbokwe, stopping him in the eighth round.
The 26-year-old has stopped seven of his last eight opponents. Katzourakis is managed by David McWater.
Most of Katzourakis’ career has been fought as a middleweight. He officially weighed in at 155 pounds in his October 2022 win over gatekeeper Cameron Krael.
Abdukakhorov (20-2, 12 KOs), who resides in Andijan, Uzbekistan, was the IBF No. 1 welterweight contender a few years ago. He squared off against Cody Crowley, losing by a close unanimous decision. Two and a half months later, Abdukakhorov lost by unanimous decision to Ve Shawn Owens.
The 30-year-old has won his last two fights, the most recent coming on November 17, winning by knockout in the second round against Maono Ally.
The winner of the Katzourakis-Abdukakhorov fight will fight the winner of the Terry-Hernandez clash, which is an appealing crossroads bout.
Terry (11-0-1, 4 KOs), who resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, last fought on November 11, defeating Luis Midyeal Sanchez by decision over six one-sided rounds. In Terry’s most notable fight, he fought to a draw against Raul Garcia in a clash of unbeaten prospects that was part of a ShoBox telecast on April 7 of last year.
Hernandez (14-6, 6 KOs) lost a close unanimous decision to unbeaten prospect Troy Isley in his last bout on November 16. In his previous fight on August 25, Hernandez scored an upset win over top prospect Lorenzo Simpson.
The 34-year-old Hernandez is originally from Ciudad Lerdo, Mexico and now resides in Stockton, California.
Winners will meet in semi-final action later this summer, with the final tentatively scheduled towards the end of 2024. Should there be a draw after the scheduled 10 rounds of a fight, a tie-breaking round will take place to decide a winner.
The winner of the tournament will receive a cash bonus and a promotional contract with OTX Boxing.
Also on the card, Giovanni Marquez (9-0, 5 KOs) of Houston will square off against San Antonio’s Jason Limon (8-0, 2 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight fight. Marquez is the son of former world junior middleweight titleholder Raul Marquez.
Hard-hitting junior welterweight Breyon Gorham (16-0, 13 KOs), another Houston resident, will face Luis Baltazar (12-1-1, 5 KOs) of Hidalgo, Texas in a six-round fight.
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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