By Ian S Palmer
Danny Roman of Los Angeles, California will be defending his WBA Super Bantamweight Title for the sixth time and the IBF crown for the first time when he meets unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan this Thursday, January 30th. The 12-round bout from Miami, Florida can be seen on DAZN in North America while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports. Roman last fought in April when he beat TJ Doheny by majority decision in an entertaining bout and took Doheny’s IBF belt. The southpaw Akhmadaliev last saw action in September when he stopped Wilner Soto in the fourth round.
The 29-year-old Roman won the WBA title by ninth-round stoppage over Shun Kubo in September, 2017 then defended it with unanimous decisions over Ryo Matsumoto and Moises Flores before stopping Gavin McDonnell in the 10th round in October of 2018. He then met Doheny to add the IBF title. Roman has a record of 26-2-1 with with 10 Kos and measures just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a reach of 68 inches.
He turned pro back in 2010 and has 199 rounds of experience since then. He’s not known as a heavy hitter which is evident by his current knockout ratio of just 33.3 per cent. Roman’s two losses came against Juan Reyes by eight-round unanimous decision in 2013 and to Takashi Okada by a four-round split decision in 2011. His draw was a four-round affair with Jensen Ramirez in his second pro fight in 2011.
Since turning pro after a 45-9 amateur career, Roman also won the vacant WBA-NABA Super Bantamweight Title in 2015 when be beat Daniel Noriega by a 10-round unanimous decision and then defended it four times. Roman’s biggest wins have been over Doheny, McDonnell, Flores, Matsumoto, Kubo, Erik Ruiz, Adam Lopez, Marlon Olea and Ramiro Robles. He hasn’t really taken world class opposition but has handled his job well, entertained the fans and is currently riding a 19-fight winning streak.
The 25-year-old Akhmadaliev is a perfect 7-0 with 6 Kos. He obviously has a lot of power in his fists and carries around a current knockout ratio of 85.7 per cent. He made his pro debut in 2018 and has just 28 rounds of experience under his belt. However, he enjoyed a successful amateur career as he won a bronze medal in the bantamweight division at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a silver at the 2015 World Amateur Championships in Doha, Qatar. He was beaten in the final by Ireland’s Michael Conlan.
Akhmadaliev apparently went 300-20 as an amateur with 80 Kos. He also won silver at the 2012 World Youth Championships and was the Uzbekistan National Champion in 2013 and 2014. He was the silver medalist at the 2015 Asian Championships and won gold at the same event two years later.
He also gained experience by boxing for the Uzbek Tigers in the 2016 and 2017 World Series of Boxing (WSB). He stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with an unlisted reach so is basically the same height as Roman.
Since turning pro, Akhmadaliev has brought his power along for the ride. He stopped Isaac Zarate in the ninth round for the WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title in November, 2018 in his first defence after halting Ramon Contreras in just 80 seconds three months earlier to win the vacant crown. He’s fighting for world titles in just his eighth pro bout and doesn’t have much experience in the pro ranks, at least against any contenders. However, he has a wealth of amateur experience to fall back on.
Prediction…
Both boxers have energetic, fan-friendly styles. They also both work hard and this should be a close, entertaining fight that could go either way or end in a draw as long as Roman can handle Akhmadaliev’s power. I can see this fight ending in a draw if it goes the distance, but if I had to put money on it I’d likely go with Akhmadaliev due to his power.
