BANTAM 56 KG - THURSDAY, 19 FEBRUARY (20:30 GMT+1)
Location: Paris – Venue: Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan
Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret is the venue for the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) Inaugural Title Match for the Bantamweight (56 kg) division, and an eagerly awaited rematch between home favourite Khedafi Djelkhir and Argentina’s Alberto Melian headlines the evening.
Melian won their earlier APB contest in week two of the competition on all three of the judges scorecards, but Djelkhir was strong in the latter part of the fight which will give him confidence for the return match.
2-1 in APB, he began his journey with a points win over Venezuela’s Yonni Blanco, and secured his place in the title match with a dominant performance over Brazil’s Robenilson Vieira De Jesus.
Melian, the World Series of Boxing Season IV Individual Champion is 3-0 in APB, and in his first bout he dropped just one round against Kenya’s Benson Gicharu Njangiru.
After his second round win over Djelkhir, he struggled in the Matches for Champions series but ultimately came out on top with a split decision win close win against China’s Jiawei Zhang.
The Argentine fighter has lost the last round in his last two APB fights, and with the title match being held over eight rounds, could the advantage be with Djelkhir the longer the fight progresses?
Although Melian has plenty of WSB experience, Djelkhir has competed over ten rounds as a professional, and his stamina could be a key component of this bout, along with Melian’s tenacity and skill.
Match schedule:
- 20:30: Sergey VODOPIYANOV (RUS) vs Yoni BLANCO (VEN) W.O. (Exhibition Match: Sangmyeong HAM (KOR) vs Yoni BLANCO (VEN))
- 21:00: Jiawei ZANG (CHN) vs Robenilson VIEIRA DE JESUS (BRA)
- 21:30: Benson NJANGIRU (KEN) W.O. vs Javid CHALABIYEV (AZE) (Exhibition Match: Benson NJANGIRU (KEN) vs Hakan ERSEKER (GER))
- 22:00: Alberto MELIAN (ARG) vs Khedafi DJELKHIR (FRA) (APB Inaugural Title Match)