The fight will be on Friday in Dubai, in defence of the IBA world professional belt won in August in Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva.
«The opponent is difficult, but ours looks good physically and psychologically,» commented trainer Victor Sanchez from Dubai about the presence of Cuban Arlen Lopez in the next International Boxing Association (IBA) Night of Champions.
«Almost at the gates of the weigh-in we are polishing details and evaluating the details of the strategy to follow,» added the award-winning coach about the challenge to be faced on Friday by the double Olympic champion, called to face the Russian title holder Sharabutdin Ataev.
«Without a doubt it should be a great fight, but we have worked hard to return home with the victory,» said Sanchez ahead of the duel in which his pupil will defend the IBA world professional belt (80 kg division) won in the Night of Champions received in August by the Havana coliseum of the Ciudad Deportiva.
The fight, scheduled for 10 rounds, is expected to be a demanding one for both, with Arlen, who was also world champion in Doha 2015 and bronze medallist in Paris 2024, against Ataev, who is only 25 years old and is looking to add to his trophy haul, also enhanced by the European crown.
The title that will be at stake came to the showcases of the Caribbean as a reward for the solid success achieved on August 28th over the Dominican José Luis Tejeda, who blurred during three acts that led to a technical knockout applauded by his fans.
Meanwhile, Olympic number one Erislandy Alvarez continues his preparation for an eight-round IBA Pro World Cup 63.5kg semi-final bout against Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Usmonov on 18 January.
The showdown will take place in Beijing, in the same venue where the world silver medallist also advanced to that stage by defeating Kazakhstan’s Adilet Kurmetov 3-0 in a six-round contest in which he showed his superiority on 16 November.
Usmonov, the world bronze medallist, then defeated the local Le Quan Wang to join a quartet of winners that also included Russia’s Gabil Mamedov and Serbia’s Pavel Fedorov, who beat Venezuela’s Luis Arcon and French star Soufiane Oumiha, respectively.
