Nadjib Mohammedi vs Robin Krasniqi Preview August 5th, 2023
The vacant WBC Silver Light Heavyweight Title is on the line in Pristina, Kosovo this Saturday, August 5th as hometown hero Robin Krasniqi takes on fellow veteran Nadjib Mohammedi of Algeria. Krasniqi, who fights out of Germany, last fought in February when he stopped Timur Nikarkhoev after five rounds while Mohammedi, who is based in France, last saw action in December when he halted Artem Karasev in the fifth round.
Mohammedi vs Krasniqi Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Nadjib Mohammedi +350
- Robin Krasniqi -500
My Pick
The 36-year-old Krasniqi enters the bout with a record of 52-7 with 20 Ko’s and has challenged for world titles three times. He was beaten by Nathan Cleverly and Juergen Braehmer as he dropped a unanimous decision to Cleverly in 2013 for the WBO Light Heavyweight Belt while Braehmer stopped him after nine rounds in 2015 in a shot at the WBA Crown in his lone defeat by stoppage. It was third time lucky though as Krasniqi stopped Dominic Boesel in the third round in 2020 to lift the IBO and interim WBA Light Heavyweight Titles. He then lost the rematch and belts to Boesel by split decision a year later.
Krasniqi was beaten on points by Sven Haselhuhn and Adrian Cerneagain his first and third pro fights in 2005 and 2006 and lost decisions to Arthur Abraham in 2017 and Stefan Haertal in 2019 with the bout against Haertal seeing Krasniqi losing his European Super Middleweight title. Krasniqi has 353 rounds of experience under his belt since his pro debut and has beaten mainly domestic level opponents.
He doesn’t carry much in the way of power as his current knockout ratio is just 34 per cent. However he’s 3-2 in his last five fights with all three wins coming by stoppage. He stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 74-inch reach and his biggest wins have been against Boesel, Tomas Adamek, Ronny Landaeta, Stanislav Kashnatov, Juergen Doberstein and Serdar Sahin. Along the way, Krasniqi has also won the vacant WBO European, and International Light Heavyweight Belts as well as the WBA and WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Titles.
The 38-year-old Mohammedi enters the ring with a mark of 45-9 with 28 Ko’s and has boxed 322 rounds since turning pro back in 2005. He measures just under 6-feet tall with a 70.5-inch reach which means he gives up 1.5-inches in height to Krasniqi as well as 3.5-inches in reach. Mohammedi has more power in his fists though with a current knockout ratio of 51.9 per cent and his last five wins have come by stoppage. However, he’s gone 5-4 in his last nine outings and has been stopped twice.
Mohammedi’s chin certainly isn’t his strongest point as six of his nine losses have come by way of stoppage. These were to Thierry Karl in one round in 2009; to Dmitry Sukhotskiy in two rounds in 2011 in a shot at the WBO Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight Title; to Sergey Kovalev in the third round in 2015 in a shot at the IBF/WBA/WBO Light Heavyweight Belts; to Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the second round in 2016 in a crack at the vacant NABF Light Heavyweight Belt; to Vladimir Shishkin in the 10th round in 2018 and to Christian Mbilli in the fifth round in 2022 in an attempt at the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Title.
As far as decisions go, Mohammedi dropped a unanimous nod to Nathan Cleverly in 2010 in a shot at the interim WBO Light Heavyweight Title and to Fedor Chudinov via a 12-round split decision in 2018 as well as a 10-round unanimous decision to Evgeny Shvedenko over 10 rounds in 2019 for the vacant Eurasian and IBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Belts. Mohammedi has fallen short when stepping up in class but has beaten Tomas Adamek, Mohamed, Belkacem, Mehdi Amar, Doudou Ngumbu and Patrick Bois. He’s also captured the French, European Union, IBF European, WBF Inter-Continental and WBF World Light Heavyweight Titles as well as the WBC Francophone super Middleweight Belt.
Prediction…
Mohammedi has a pair of fast hands and is mobile enough with decent power to do some damage if he catches Krasniqi flush but Krasniqi has a great chin. Since Krasniqi lacks power he’s fine tuned his other boxing skills and doesn’t rely on power to win fights. These are two European-level veterans who are close to 40 years old and I’ll give the edge to Krasniqi due to his skills and chin as well as Mohammedi’s unpredictable chin.
Krasniqi’s the better overall boxer.
Play: Krasniqi -500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Nadjib Mohammedi betting • Robin Krasniqi betting