Earlier this month, Eye of The Tiger announced that Artur Biyarslanov would be headlining against Marcos Villasana Jr. in an NABF junior welterweight title fight at the Montreal Casino on September 5.
The Montreal-based promotional outfit has now announced the undercard of the event that will be available on ESPN+ and punchinggrace.com.
In the co-main event, Imam Khataev will look to defend his NABF light heavyweight title against Argentine tough guy Ezequiel Maderna.
Khataev (7-0, 7 knockouts) claimed the regional title last time out when he stopped Richards Bolotniks (TKO 6) in May.
The Russia-born fight won bronze at the 2020 (delayed to 2021) Tokyo Olympics. After turning professional in November 2021 he moved in Australia. Since signing with EOTT he has been more active, fighting twice this year and being featured in a New Faces article in The Ring’s March 2024 digital issue.
Meanwhile, Maderna (31-12, 21 KOs) represented his country at the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympics before turning his attention to the professional boxing in late 2008. He won his first 19 before losing to Edwin Rodriguez (UD 10) in 2013.
Since then, he’s reverted to a high-level journeyman career, losing to Artur Beterbiev (TKO 4), Fedor Chudinov (KO 10) and Osleys Iglesias (KO 1) among others, but he reminded everyone that he is still dangerous with an upset over Karol Itauma (KO 5).
Earlier in the night, Mary Spencer (8-2, 6 knockouts) will face Naomi Mannes (7-2-1, 4 KOs) in a junior middleweight bout.
Rising welterweight Christopher Guerrero (11-0, 6 KOs) will return to action against American journeyman Courtney Pennington (17-8-3, 7 KOs) in an eight-round contest.
Highly regarded Jhon Orobio (10-0, 9 KOs), who was the subject of a New Faces feature in the July issue of The Ring, will face Joel Manriquez (6-5, 0 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight clash.
Lightweight Avery Martin-Duval (11-0-1, 7 KOs) will meet Jesus Daneff (13-11-4, 4 KOs), and Wilkens Mathieu (10-0, 6 KOs) is tabbed to face Marcos Karalitzky (8-9-2, 2 KOs) in a catchweight match at 172 pounds.
Moreno Fendero (6-0, 4 KOs) rounds out the undercard against Carlos Ronner (7-4, 2 KOs) in a middleweight bout.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
The post Imam Khataev-Ezequiel Maderna leads off Biyarslanov-Villasana undercard on Sept. 5 appeared first on The Ring.