Alantez Fox vs Bektemir Melikuziev Preview October 7th, 2023
Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan takes on Alantez Fox of Washington DC in a 10-round super middleweight bout this Saturday, October 7th. The fight from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live on DAZN in most nations. Melikuziev last boxed in April when he beat veteran Gabriel Rosado by a 10-round unanimous decision in a rematch to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title. In their first meeting in 2021, Rosado won by a sensational third-round knockout for the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Crown. Fox was last in action in February when he dropped a controversial 10-round majority decision to Erik Bazinyan in a shot at the NABA and NABF Super Middleweight Belts.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Fox vs Melikuziev Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Alantez Fox +700
- Bektemir Melikuziev -1250
My Pick
The 27-year-old Melikuziev, who now fights out of Indio, California, is a southpaw who enters the ring with an impressive record of 12-1 with 9 Ko’s with his lone loss coming to Rosado, which he has now avenged. He stands just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70.5-inch reach, made his pro debut in 2019 and has fought just 52 rounds since.
Melikuziev enjoyed a fine amateur career and made it to the final of the 2015 AIBA World Championships and to the semifinals in 2017. He also fought in the World Series of Boxing, won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil as a middleweight, won gold at the 2015 and 2017 Asian Championships as a middleweight and light-heavyweight respectively and took gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games as a welterweight.
Melikuziev possesses quite a bit of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 75 per cent. Three of his last four wins have come by stoppage and now has five victories in a row since losing to Rosado. Since turning pro he’s also won the vacant WBO Global Super Middleweight Title and the WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Title. His biggest wins have come against Rosado, Ulises Sierra, Clay Collard, Vaughn Alexander, Oscar Cortes, Alan Campa, David Zegarra and Sergei Ekimov.
As for Fox, he’s now 31 years old and enters the contest with a mark of 28-4-1 with 13 Ko’s. He made his pro debut in 2010 after an amateur career and has boxed 178 rounds since. His power is average at best with a current knockout ratio of 46.4 per cent. Fox is quite tall for a super middleweight at 6-foot-4-inches and owns a 79-inch reach. This gives him a 6.5-inch height advantage over Melikuziev as well as 8.5-inches in reach.
Fox’s first two defeats came at the hands of Demetrius Andrade in 12 rounds by unanimous decision in 2017 after dropping Andrade to the canvas in the seventh round. He was then stopped by Liam Williams in the fifth stanza in 2019 in a shot at the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title. His third defeat was a fourth-round stoppage at the hands of David Morrell in 2021 in a shot at the WBA Super Middleweight Crown and he then dropped his second straight as Bazinyan edged him in his last outing.
His lone draw was an eight-round affair with Frank Galarza back in 2012. Fox’s biggest wins have been over Franklin Gonzalez, Guillermo Valdez, Eric Mitchell, Frank Nunez, Paul Valenzuela, Ronald Montes, Elvin Ayala and Marcos Hernandez. He also fought to a three-round no-contest with Habib Ahmed in 2020 and won the vacant WBC United States (USNBC) Middleweight Belt in 2017 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Kenneth McNeil.
Prediction…
Fox has a huge height and reach advantage over Melikuziev which he’s going to have to utilize to keep him at bay. I believe Melikuziev will eventually work his way inside though since Fox doesn’t really have the power to keep him off of him and do enough damage to wear Fox down for the win.
Melikuziev’s power and natural aggression should be the difference.
Play: Melikuziev -1250 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Alantez Fox betting • Bektemir Melikuziev betting