Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Kevin Gonzalez Preview December 16th, 2023
Former IBF and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan will be trying to rebound from his first career loss as he takes on Mexico’s unbeaten Kevin Gonzalez this Saturday, December 16th. The 12-round WBA Super Bantamweight eliminator can be seen live in most nations on DAZN from Glendale, Arizona. Akhmadaliev beat Danny Roman by split decision in January, 2020 to win the belts and defended them against Ryosuke Iwasa by fifth-round stoppage in in April, 2021, then beat Jose Velasquez by a unanimous decision in November and halted Ronny Rios in the 12th round in last year. However he lost his titles this April when he dropped a controversial split decision to Marlon Tapales. Gonzalez was last in the ring in March when he beat Jose Sanmartin by 10-round unanimous decision.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Akhmadaliev vs Gonzalez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Kevin Gonzalez +350
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev -500
My Pick
The 29-year-old Akhmadaliev is now 11-1 with 8 Ko’s and obviously has a lot of power in his fists as 72.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, but three of his last five outings have gone the distance. He made his pro debut in 2018 and has 81 rounds of experience under his belt. He enjoyed a successful amateur career as he won a bronze medal in the bantamweight division at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a silver at the 2015 World Amateur Championships in Doha, Qatar where he was beaten in the final by Ireland’s Michael Conlan.
Akhmadaliev, who now fights out of Indio, California, reportedly reportedly went 300-20 as an amateur with 80 Ko’s. He also won silver at the 2012 World Youth Championships and was the Uzbekistan National Champion in 2013 and 2014. He was the silver medallist at the 2015 Asian Championships and won gold at the same event two years later. He gained experience by boxing for the Uzbek Tigers in the 2016 and 2017 World Series of Boxing (WSB). Akhmadaliev stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 68-inch reach.
Since turning pro, Akhmadaliev has brought his power along for the ride. He stopped Isaac Zarate in the ninth round for the WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title in November, 2018 in his first defence after halting Ramon Contreras in just 80 seconds three months earlier to win the vacant crown. He won his world titles in just his eighth pro bout and doesn’t have much experience in the pro ranks against the upper echelon just yet but his wins over Roman, Iwasa, Velasquez and Rios were all impressive and his loss to Tapales could have gone either way.
The 25-year-old Gonzalez climbs through the ropes with a near-perfect mark of 26-1 with 13 Ko’s and has boxed 145 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 as a teenager. The lone blemish on his record is a six-round majority draw with Adalberto Covarrubias in 2018. Gonzalez measures 5-feet-4-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach, so gives up 1.5-inches in height to the former world champion. Gonzalez isn’t known as a power puncher but has enough pop in his punches to cause some damage with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent.
He’s gone the distance in his past two fights and in seven of his last 11. He captured the vacant Mexican Pacific Coast Bantamweight Title in 2017 when he beat Edy Valencia Mercado by a 10-round split decision. However just 10 of his 27 opponents have entered the ring with a winning record so will be taking a step up in class this weekend. His biggest wins up to now have been over Jose Sanmartin, Emanuel Nieves, Antonio Guzman, Alexander Meija, Ivan Morales, Juan Jiminez, Jesus Quintana and Jesus Iribe.
Prediction…
Akhmadaliev is a fine boxer with good power and doesn’t really lack anything other than pro experience. His loss to Tapales was quite controversial as he came on very strong in the second half after struggling somewhat in the earlier rounds. It was an exciting fight though and this should be as well. Gonzalez can’t be taken too lightly as Akhmadaliev certainly can’t afford two straight defeats if he hopes to earn another world title shot. I’m expecting Akhmadaliev to bounce back this weekend and get back on the winning track in a hard-fought tussle.
The power of Akhmadaliev should be the difference.
Play: Akhmadaliev -500@ BetOnline.ag
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Kevin Gonzalez betting • Murodjon Akhmadaliev betting