Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Ricardo Espinoza Franco Preview December 14th, 2024
Former IBF and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan will be trying to capture the vacant WBA Interim Title this Saturday, December 14th he takes on Mexico’s Ricardo Espinoza Franco. The 12-rounder from Monte Carlo can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. 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 April, 2021 then beat Jose Velasquez by a unanimous decision in November, 2021. He halted Ronny Rios in the 12th round in June, 2022 but lost his titles this April, 2023 when he dropped a controversial split decision to Marlon Tapales. He bounced back from that loss with an eighth-round TKO over Kevin Gonzalez in last December, so this is his first fight in a year. Espinoza Franco was last in the ring in August when he halted Jovanny Soto Ramirez in the second round.
Akhmadaliev vs Espinoza Franco Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Ricardo Espinoza Franco +900
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev -2000
My Pick
The 30-year-old Akhmadaliev is now 12-1 with 9 Ko’s and obviously has a lot of power in his fists as 75 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, but three of his last six outings have gone the distance. He made his pro debut in 2018 and has 89 rounds of experience under his belt. The southpaw 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 after losing to Robeisy Ramirez in the semifinals 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 a ton of experience in the pro ranks against the upper echelon just yet but his wins over Gonzalez, Roman, Iwasa, Velasquez and Rios were all impressive and his loss to Tapales could have gone either way.
Espinoza Franco is 27 years old and carries around a record of 30-4 with 25 Kos and has boxed 140 rounds since turning pro in 2015. He measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 62.5-inch reach so gives up 5.5-inches in reach to the former champion. It’s evident Franco also has above average power in his hands as 83.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including four of his last five. His last defeat came to Daniel Roman by 10-round unanimous decision in 2021.
The hard-hitting John Riel Casimero stopped him in the 12th round in April, 2019 in a shot at the Interim WBO World Bantamweight Title. Espinoza Franco was down in the sixth and 12th rounds but the scores at the time of the stoppage were 105-103 for Casimero, 105-103 for Espinoza Franco and 104-104. He also dropped a six-round unanimous decision to Sam Rodriguez in 2016 and was dropped in the third round and lost an eight-round split decision to Christian Nieto Ayala in 2017.
Since turning pro, Espinoza Franco beat Daniel Lozano by second-round TKO for the WBO Latino Bantamweight Title in 2018 and defended it against Yeison Vargas by second-round stoppage and Ricardo Nunez by 10th-round stoppage. He also won the vacant WBO Youth Super Bantamweight Belt in 2020 via a 10-round unanimous decision over Brandon Valdes.
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. Espinoza Franco can’t be taken too lightly as he possesses plenty of power and has a pretty good chin as he’s been stopped just once in his four pro losses. Akhmadaliev should expect a hard-fought tussle but he should be able to win this fight although a stoppage might be hard to get.
The skills and speed of Akhmadaliev should be the difference.
Play: Akhmadaliev -2000@ BetOnline.ag
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Murodjon Akhmadaliev betting • Ricardo Espinoza Franco betting