Israil Madrimov, Ali Akhmedov join Golovkin-Derevyanchenko October 5th

It looks as though undefeated prospects Israil Madrimov and Ali Akhmedov, who joined Gennadiy Golovkin’s supporting cast for “GGG’s” June 8th destruction of Steve Rolls, will tag along when Golovkin faces Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the IBF middleweight title on October 5th. Asian Boxing and BoxRec report that super welterweight Madrimov will face Mexico’s Alejandro Barrera, while super middleweight Akhmedov has a date with TBA.

The much-hyped and fast-tracking Madrimov (3-0, 3 KO) was originally set for a moderate step up against Mark DeLuca, only for the latter to drop out earlier this week. Barrera (29-5, 18 KO), out of action since May of last year, is a fairly standard “victim to the stars” type, sporting losses to Errol Spence Jr. and Carlos Adames in his last four fights. He did take a split decision over Eddie Gomez in 2017, though, so he’s got that going for him.

Kazakhstan’s Akhmedov (15-0, 11 KO) has also fought twice in 2019, beating Mike Guy and Marcus McDaniel. He trains under former Golovkin coach Abel Sanchez, who’s spoken highly of his technical ability