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Olympic champion 2020, interim WBA champion Albert Batyrgaziev found out the name of his new opponent in the fight on October 17 in Ufa during the first defense of the IBA champion belt in the weight category up to 60 kg. The famous Russian boxer will meet with Albert Pagara from the Philippines. This 10-round match will be headlined by the Betting League tournament. Night of IBA Champions”, which will be held as part of the forum “Russia – a sports power”.

Initially, Batyrgaziev’s opponent was supposed to be the former WBA super champion, 38-year-old Nicholas Walters from Jamaica. Details of the changes were told by Batyrgaziev’s manager and coach Eduard Kravtsov:

“Unfortunately, Walters’ team treated the process unprofessionally, to put it mildly. We signed a contract, but they refused the fight, citing injury. They even sent the relevant medical documents. But the fact has been revealed that Walters has another fight planned with Diaz in early November. Our team will sue him for failure to fulfill contractual obligations. But that’s not the point. We have already learned from experience, so back in early September we signed a contract with Pagara, who was preparing for battle as a reservist. If a replacement had not been required, we would have arranged for him to fight on November 3 at another IBA Night of Champions tournament. So the Filipino held a full-fledged camp under these deadlines, so he will enter the fight with Albert in good shape.”

Batyrgaziev won the IBA title in December 2023 at the IBA Night of Champions tournament in Dubai, when he defeated multiple Olympic medalist Cuban Lazaro Alvarez by unanimous decision. Now Albert will hold his first defense. The last time a Russian entered the ring was in July in Serpukhov, when at the League of Betting tournament. IBA Night of Champions” defeated Irishman Jono Carroll by technical knockout in the ninth round and won the interim WBA super featherweight champion belt.

The 30-year-old Pagara’s record is impressive – 35 wins with only one defeat in 2016. Pagara last entered the ring in June of this year when he won the IBF Asia belt. Also during his career, the Filipino held the WBO Inter-Continental and IBF Inter-Continental titles. In the professional ring, Pagara primarily competed in the Philippines; he also boxed in the USA and the UAE.

In the co-main event “Betting League. IBA Night of Champions”, two-time world champion, 2020 Olympic finalist, 2024 European champion, Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, will make his first defense of the WBA bridgerweight belt in a 12-round fight with German Leon Hart.

Also in Ufa, two WBA Asia belts will be played. The holder of the IBA European champion belt, a native of Ufa, Artur Subkhankulov, will challenge the title in the second featherweight with the Chinese Liu Wensong. Finalist of the 2015 World Championship, two-time European champion, five-time Russian champion Vasily Egorov will try to win the flyweight belt against WBO African champion Joseph Immanuel from Namibia. And finally, boxers from the Republic of Bashkortostan Azalia Amineva and Danis Gabdrafikov will hold their next fights.

Tournament “Betting League. IBA Night of Champions” in Ufa will be organized by the International Boxing Association, the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Bashkortostan with the personal support of the Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan Andrei Nazarov, as well as Iron & Gloves Promotions and Dynamo Boxing Promotions with the support of the Russian Boxing Federation. The general partner of the show will be the bookmaker company Liga Stavok. The boxing evening on October 17 will be broadcast live on the Match TV channel, the broadcast begins at 16:30 Moscow time.