Akhmadaliev vs Iwasa: Israil Madrimov and Shakhram Giyasov get opponents for April 3 card

Matchroom Boxing today announced the previously revealed April 3rd DAZN card headlined by Murodjon Akhmadaliev’s mandatory super bantamweight title defense against Ryosuke Iwasa, fully unveiling the co-feature in the process.

“It is a great honour and responsibility to defend my Titles for the first time in my motherland, Uzbekistan, in front of the eyes of my compatriots,” said Akhmadaliev. “My opponent Ryosuke Iwasa is a serious contender, so I am preparing for a difficult fight. I am thinking only about the defence of my Titles but my main goal is to unify all of the belts.”

Fellow Uzbek Israil Madrimov (6-0, 5 KO) is set to co-headline against the Congo’s Emmany Kalombo (14-0, 14 KO), who’s ranked 15th by the WBO at super welterweight and has spent the entirety of his pro career on the African circuit. Even with his layoff and surgery, Madrimov figures to be a prohibitive favorite.

BoxRec and Asian Boxing report another pair of completed matchups. In one, Rio silver medalist and rising super lightweight Shakhram Giyasov (10-0, 8 KO) meets former lightweight title challenger Isa Chaniev (14-3, 6 KO). Giyasov followed a 41-second knockout of Darleys Perez with a dominant finish of Winston Campos last August. while Chaniev is 1-1 since falling to Richard Commey in a bid for the vacant IBF title.

In the other, 2016 light flyweight gold medalist Hasanboy Dusmatov (2-0, 2 KO) takes on Venezuela’s Alexis Diaz (25-2, 17 KO), who lost to Knockout CP Freshmart back in 2015. Diaz’s record is pretty, but it’s largely fluff, and he’s been out of action since 2019.