Zelfa Barrett vs Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov Preview November 5th, 2022
The vacant IBF Junior Lightweight Championship is on the line this Saturday, November 5th as unbeaten Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov of Tajikistan takes on Zelfa Barrett of Manchester, England. The 12-rounder can be seen live in most nations on DAZN from Abu Dhabi. Rakhimov last fought in December when he stopped Zardor Muzaffarov after the second round. Barrett was last in the ring in June when he beat Faroukh Kourbanov by 12-round unanimous decision to take the European Junior Lightweight Belt.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Barrett vs Rakhimov Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Zelfa Barrett +240
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov -300
My Pick
Rakhimov is a southpaw who enters the contest with a near perfect record of 16-0-1 with 13 Kos. The 28-year-old turned pro in 2015 and has 82 rounds under his belt at the moment. He stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with an unlisted reach and was a three time Tajikistan amateur champion from 2013 to 2015 and boxed at the 2013 AIBA World Championships where he went 2-1 as a light welterweight.
He’s fought mainly in Russia since turning pro with his first road trip being to South Africa in 2019 when he stopped Azinga Fuzile in the ninth round. He then made a name for himself in North America when he fought ex-world champion Joseph Diaz to a 12-round draw in Indio, California in a shot at the vacant IBF Junior Lightweight Title in February, 2021.
Rakhimov certainly has some power in his fists as his current knockout ratio stands at an impressive 76.5 per cent but he’s also been on the canvas in his pro career. He won the vacant IBO Super Featherweight Title in 2017 when he beat Emanuel Lopez by unanimous decision and defended it three times against Malcolm Klassen, Robinson Castellanos and Rofhiwa Maemu all by stoppage in the 8th, 2nd and 4th round respectively.
The 29-year-old Barrett climbs through the ropes with a mark of 28-1 with 16 Ko’s and has boxed 163 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach which sees him give up 1.5-inches in height to Rakhimov. Barrett’s lone pro defeat came at the hands of Ronnie Clark by 12-round majority decision in 2018 after being dropped in the sixth round in a shot at the vacant IBF European Junior Lightweight Title.
Since turning pro, Barrett has also managed to capture the vacant English, Commonwealth, and IBF Inter-Continental Junior Lightweight Crowns. He has decent power with a current knockout ratio of 55.2 per cent, but it should be noted that 19 of his 29 opponents entered the ring with losing records. He has managed to beat some worthy opposition though with victories over Eric Donovan, Bruno Tarimo and former world champion Kiko Martinez
Prediction…
Rakhimov has stopped five of his last six opponents with the other bout being his energetic draw with JoJo Diaz. However, he’s more than just a power puncher as he possesses good footwork, positioning, a fine jab and hard left hand. He’s still a work in progress and isn’t perfect by any means but I believe he’s more advanced than Barrett at this stage of their careers and I’m going with Rakhimov in this one.
A relatively close fight with Rakhimov having the edge.
Play: Rakhimov -300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov betting • Zelfa Barrett betting