As he returns to his hometown for IBA Champions’ Night in Ufa on 8 August, Artur Subkhankulov has a lot on the line as he headlines our latest event in the series.

He has a 6-0 record as a professional and he won the last edition of IBA Champions’ Night Ufa in April, defeating James Chereji from Romania in the main event to become the IBA Pro European Champion. Simply, he is yet to taste defeat at this level, and he is not ready to do so in front of his own people.

The Russian must first defeat Hungary’s Roland Galos, also with a professional record of 6-0, as he defends his IBA title for the first time.

Subkhankulov is not far removed from his last IBA Champions’ Night success, forcing a referee’s stoppage in Serpukhov last month in the third round against Tanzania’s Abeid Zugo.

Galos, who represented his nation at the Tokyo 2020 Games, will face the home favorite over eight rounds on a seven-deep match card.

Confidence is high for the home boy, stating he is not feeling particularly worried about the challenge ahead.

‘I am very happy to perform again at the tournament from the IBA Champions’ Night series and I am especially happy that I will have the opportunity to defend the belt in Ufa,’ Subkhankulov said.

‘Yes, this is an additional responsibility, but performing in front of fans is very cool. Galos is a high-level boxer, he has an amateur background, and he has not yet known defeats among professionals. I believe that we will have a competitive fight, I expect to please my home crowd in my city,’ he added.

Although there has been a lot of studying of the Hungarian, the 32-year-old has trusted his ability so far to get the job done sufficiently on his talent alone.

Despite the quick turnaround since Serpukhov, he is insisting he is well-recovered considering the bout with Zugo was cut short.

‘I plan to work in my own style, I will not invent or make up anything,’ Subkhankulov added.

‘Yes, I have some plans that I expect to implement. My last fight was on 12 July, there will be less than a month between fights, but I don’t see any problem with that. That meeting in Serpukhov ended quickly, I wasn’t even particularly tired, and I didn’t lose my form, after that confrontation, I rested for a week, and then started preparing to defend my title.’

Action is set to take place at the Ufa Arena from 15:30 CEST and will be live-streamed at https://iba.sport/.

Russian Dzhambulat Bizhamov meets Juan Narvaez from Colombia over eight rounds at the 75kg weight, following on from Kazakhstan’s Saparbay Aidarov and Alokhon Abdullaev from Uzbekistan over eight rounds at the same weight; and a six-round contest between Russia’s Danis Gabdrafikov and Misheelt Battumur from Mongolia at 67kg.

Further down the fight card Azaliya Amineva from Russia takes on Tanzania’s Rehema Abdallah at 66kg over six rounds, Vadim Musaev of Russia and Namibia’s Paulus Amavila contest 10 rounds at the 69.9kg weight category and Egor Kozorezov and Chahal Akshay of India open the night over six rounds at the 63.5kg weight.

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