Boxer Shavkat Rakhimov will meet with Mexican Eduardo Nunez

Shavkat Rakhimov, one of the most famous domestic boxers, will have a chance next year to regain the featherweight champion title (up to 59 kg) lost due to an offensive defeat from Briton Joe Cordina if he wins the International Boxing Federation (IBF) qualifying match over Mexican Eduardo Nunez.

The International Boxing Federation released a statement from the head of its championship committee, Carlos Ortiz, which states that the structure has sanctioned a qualifying fight for the status of an official contender in the featherweight division between the third number of its rating, Shavkat Rakhimov, a native of Tajikistan, also representing Russia, and in the classification one line lower by the Mexican Eduardo Nunez. The parties have been given a period of 14 days to reach an agreement on the terms of the match. Its winner will have to meet its owner in a fight for the champion title next year. At the moment it is Briton Joe Cordina. On Saturday he will fight in Monte Carlo with American Edward Vazquez.

For 29-year-old Rakhimov, one of the most famous domestic boxers, the fresh decision of the IBF is a chance to quickly regain the championship title, lost in April in a most offensive manner. This fighter got there after going through many difficult moments in his career. For the first time, Rakhimov came close to him at the end of the last decade. In 2019, Rakhimov spectacularly knocked out strong South African fighter Azinga Fuzile in a match that was positioned as an IBF qualifier. A fight for him was even announced between Rakhimov and the Japanese Kenichi Ogawa, but it was suddenly canceled due to Ogawa’s injury.

However, in February 2021, Shavkat Rakhimov still entered the championship match. It took place in Indio, California, and Rakhimov’s opponent was the great American boxer Joseph Diaz, with whom an emergency happened. At the weigh-in, Diaz was unable to meet the category limit and lost his belt. But in accordance with the IBF regulations, Rakhimov could only get it if he won against Diaz, who, despite the incident, was allowed to participate in the match. At the end of 12 rounds, one of the three judges recorded a minimal advantage for Diaz, and the other two – a draw, which became the official result, leaving the title vacant.

Later, Kenichi Ogawa took it, and last summer the belt passed into the hands of Briton Joe Cordina, who defeated the Japanese, and made a meteoric rise.

IBF obliged Joe Cordina defends his title in the match against Shavkat Rakhimov. However, it soon became clear that due to surgery on his injured hand, the champion would not be able to perform for a very long time.

The IBF, having lost patience, stripped Cordina of the belt, giving him the opportunity to claim it after recovery. The title was declared vacant, and Rakhimov’s rival in the fight for it was another Briton, Zelfa Barrett. Shavkat Rakhimov fought with him in November last year, winning a spectacular victory. In the third round, Rakhimov survived a knockdown, but recovered, and in the ninth he forced his opponent’s seconds to admit Barrett’s defeat.

In April of this year in Cardiff, that is, essentially, on someone else’s site, Shavkat Rakhimov finally met with Joe Cordina. The battle resulted in great drama. During the course of it, both opponents were in difficult situations, actually on the verge of knockout, but continued to brutally fight until the final gong. One of the three judges gave the win with a serious – 116:111 – advantage to Rakhimov, but the other two considered that Cordina had the upper hand with a small margin.

Shavkat Rakhimov’s new opponent is a boxer with a track record that looks incredible by the standards of the category.

And the point is not that out of 25 fights there is only one defeat, which happened in 2018. What is surprising is the fact that Eduardo Nunez, who works with the same famous promotion company Matchroom Boxing that also manages Joe Cordina, won all of his 24 victories, including the one won on Saturday in a fight with Colombian Oscar Espandon, by knockout. True, we must take into account that he competed exclusively in his homeland and practically never faced elite opponents.

Alexey Dospehov