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First, the bad news: ESPN reports that Viktor Postol has fractured his thumb, scrapping his March 9th interim title bout with Regis Prograis. The good news is that they’ve gotten another former champion, Julius Indongo, to step up on short notice.
Coincidentally, this announcement comes on Indongo’s 35th birthday. Party hats will be provided in the break room.
Indongo (22-1, 11 KO) rose to prominence with a 40-second knockout of Eduard Troyanovsky and subsequent schooling of Ricky Burns. He did get smashed by Terence Crawford last year, but that kinda happens to everyone, so it’s not really a knock on him. He’s got 2.5 inches of height and 4.5 inches of reach on Prograis (20-0, 17 KO), plus the skills to use them, making this an excellent fight.
Losing Postol sucks, but this might literally be the best possible replacement. Can “Rougarou” shut down “The Blue Machine?”