It makes perfect sense: Israil Madrimov vs. Serhii Bohachuk.
It’s the perfect pairing of two fighters coming off a high-profile loss who accounted well for themselves in defeat.
Latin American media member Fernando Sabatini is reporting that the junior middleweight bout is in negotiations as we speak.
“I am informed that a fight between Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk is being negotiated for December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, within the Fury-Usyk 2 card,” Sabatini wrote on Twitter/X.
🚨Me informan que se está negociando un combate entre @IsrailMadrimov y @SBohachuk para el 21 de diciembre en Riad, Arabia Saudita, dentro de la cartelera #FuryUsyk2🔥
Pero el ucraniano podría realizar la revancha con Vergil Ortiz en febrero. pic.twitter.com/spKs01dKER
— Fernando Sabatini (@FerSabatiniBox) September 8, 2024
There’s absolutely nothing negative to say about Madrimov-Bohachuk. It makes total sense.
Being realistic, neither fighter is a significant draw, despite the positive impression made on fight fans with their recent efforts. And, after seeing how well they performed against their well-known recent opposition, they may have fallen on the wrong end of the risk vs. reward ratio, finding it somewhat difficult to get another big fight right now.
Madrimov did better than expected in his August 3 bout with Terence Crawford, frustrating and even occasionally laying hands on the pound-for-pound talent. Although he’d lose a unanimous decision to Crawford, along with his WBA 154 lb. belt, the decision was an exceptionally close 115-113 on two of the three judges’ scorecards and 116-112 on the third.
“It’s a waste of time,” Madrimov’s promoter Eddie Hearn said immediately after the decision was announced. “It’s not a 116-112 fight. He’s coming into the fight as a champion but because he’s fighting Terence Crawford he doesn’t get a shake.
“All of the effective punches were coming from Israil Madrimov. Crawford had a good flurry in the last round.
“It was a super close fight I believe you have to come in and take that belt of the champion, Terence Crawford didn’t do that and I love him he is brilliant. But for me, he [Madrimov] deserves to be champion tonight. It was a fight that could have gone either way and then you hear the scorecards and it’s a ‘why do you bother’ kind of thing.”
Bohachuk, meanwhile, lost a majority decision to Vergil Ortiz Jr. on August 10 in an exciting tussle for the WBC interim 154 lb. title where he dropped the favored Ortiz twice. Bohachuk-Ortiz had many calling for an immediate rematch.
Sabatini is also reporting that another option for the Ukrainian is that Ortiz rematch, possibly in February.
However, if Madrimov-Bohachuk does go through, it would give both fighters an opportunity to get back to the near-top of the junior middleweight scene and keep their names in the public eye as viable opposition for another world title shot or some other big-ticket opportunity.
Having it added to a potentially very good and intriguing Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch Just makes the possibility all the more compelling.
Paul Magno has over forty years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared on Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Fight Hype, Max Boxing, Boxing.com, Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules, Overtime Heroics, Bleacher Report, and Premier Boxing Champions. He is currently the owner and managing editor or The Boxing Tribune. You can follow his Twitter/X account, @boxing_tribune, for breaking boxing news, analysis, and sometimes NSFW commentary. For Advertising, Inquiries, etc., send him an email here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com