The city of Ufa witnessed the weigh-in ceremony ahead of the IBA Pro title fight at 60kg between Russia’s Albert Batyrgaziev and Albert Pagara from the Philippines.

The event will be live streamed tonight, 17 October 2024 at 17:00 (GMT+5).

Olympic champion, Batyrgaziev won his title in a tight contest with Lazaro Alvarez from Cuba last December at IBA Champions’ Night in Dubai. Since then, the Russian boxer celebrated another victory in Serpukhov against Jono Carroll from Ireland where he was awarded the WBA Interim Super Featherweight title. Pagara has 35 victories with 24 KOs in his professional record and one loss.

‘The first title defense is nerve-wracking; it’s one thing to reach the top, but staying there is much harder,’ Batyrgaziev said. ‘That’s why we prepared thoroughly, with our training divided into three stages. The first stage was held in Dombay, and the next two stages took place at the International Boxing Progress Center in Sochi.’

He described Pagara as “a very serious opponent”.

‘Pagara hasn’t lost a match in eight years. His record is impressive, and he has a slight advantage over me — he’s been preparing specifically for me, while I initially trained to face Nicholas Walters. However, in this short time, my coach Eduard Kravtsov and I worked hard to make adjustments to our tactical approach. I hope everything goes well. This isn’t my first time competing at this level, so everything is business as usual. I wish my opponent a good fight, injury-free, and to show spectacular boxing,’ he added.

Batyrgaziev was the first IBA Pro title holder. ‘I think it’s a great responsibility. The IBA has given me the chance to make history, so I represent my belt everywhere, even when boxing in other formats. I’m proud to be the IBA professional world champion — the first one, at that.’

The co-main event will feature Russia’s Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (4-0) defending his WBA Bridgerweight title against Leon Harth (22-5-1) from Germany. Two-time IBA World champion, Gadzhimagomedov claimed the WBA title after a TKO victory over Zhaoxin Zhang from China at the IBA Champions’ Night in July.

‘I trained back home in Dagestan with my coach, Rashidbek Akhmedov,’ Gadzhimagomedov said. ‘Everything went well — I had great sparring partners, and I feel 100% ready. I’m set on keeping the belt here in Russia and moving forward. First, I’ll take on the mandatory title defense, and then look to unify the belts in this weight division. My opponent is tough and experienced — a strong guy with fast hands. But my coach and I have studied him well, so I’m hopeful there won’t be any issues. I won’t be chasing an early knockout; I’m focused on winning, and we’ll see how it plays out.’

Undercard will see the WBA Asia title in super featherweight in a 10-round contest between the IBA Pro European champion from Russia Artur Subhkankulov (6-0) and Wensong Liu (11-3-1) from China.

At 67kg, Russian boxer Danis Gabdrafikov (3-0) challenges Jean Junior Messe Elime (8-1) from Cameroon in a 6-round contest. In an opening bout, Vasily Egorov from Russia faces Immanuel Josef from Namibia for the WBA Asia belt in the 50.8kg division.

Azaliya Amineva from Russia, who had her debut as a professional boxer at the IBA Champions’ Night earlier this year, will face off against Sahiba Raj from India in a women’s 66kg division contest.

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Media contacts:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

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