Former world champion Israil Madrimov was forced to pull out of his showdown with Serhii Bohachuk after being diagnosed with acute bronchitis.
The pair were supposed to collide on December 21, featuring on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury’s eagerly awaited rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
However, shortly after announcing his clash with Vergil Ortiz Jr on February 22, Madrimov ruled himself out of the potential barnburner against his fellow Eastern European.
Instead of being removed from the card, though, Bohachuk will now face unproven super welterweight contender Ishmael Davis in just ten days’ time.
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Manny Robles slams Israil Madrimov for fighting Vergil Ortiz Jr
The announcement that Madrimov and Ortiz will lock horns on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s undisputed light heavyweight rematch came as a colossal surprise.
Given that he was scheduled to face Bohachuk just over two months prior, it was difficult to see how the Uzbek would take on two formidable operators in such quick succession.
And so, it was perhaps less surprising when the former Terence Crawford opponent withdrew from his first upcoming contest, affording himself more time to prepare for Ortiz.
Bohachuk, meanwhile, comes off a highly contentious majority decision defeat to Ortiz, despite producing a tremendous performance to floor his explosive opponent twice.
But regardless, the Ukrainian’s trainer, Manny Robles, remains highly sceptical of Madrimov’s illness, highlighting the fact that they were presented with a replacement opponent so swiftly.
“I’m disappointed,” Robles told Sean Zittel, among other media members. “We were up next versus Madrimov; we’ve been working extremely hard to get Bohachuk ready for this fight.
“We had a fantastic camp, and we were looking forward to the fight with Madrimov.
“That did cross my mind – ‘oh man, I hope they don’t cancel the fight.’ But hey, they did. And they magically found us another opponent the same day he pulled out.
“He had another opponent already, so what does that tell you? I definitely take it like a slap in the face. I don’t think Serhii Bohachuk deserves to be treated this way.”
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Serhii Bohachuk will face Ishmael Davis instead
Ultimately, Bohachuk has been denied the opportunity to catapult himself into a world title shot, as a victory over Madrimov would have, at the very least, given him plenty of bargaining power at the top table.
But still, the 29-year-old will stay active by taking on Davis, a fighter who, albeit at a much lower level, adopts a similar fighting style to Madrimov.
Not only that, but what the Brit lacks in experience, he makes up for with spades of tenacity, coming off another short-notice fight against Josh Kelly.
And while Davis ultimately lost to his domestic rival, he nonetheless proved that, even without a full training camp, he has the fearlessness to duke it out with any fighter at 154 lbs.