Mario Barrios vs. Batyr Akhmedov - September 28, 2019

[Ruthless-RKO]

Mario Barrios and Batyr Akhmedov were ordered more than a month ago by the World Boxing Association (WBA) to negotiate terms for a vacant title fight. Little has since been said about the pairing, but it has resurfaced in a big way.

The evenly matched showdown between unbeaten rising contenders will serve as a preliminary bout to the Sept. 28 welterweight title unification bout between Errol Spence and Shawn Porter, which takes place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

The event will air live on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View, with all participants due to meet the press for a late morning session Tuesday in Los Angeles. Also on hand will be Josesito Lopez and John Molina Jr., both of whom collide in what figures to be a wild battle of California-based welterweight gatekeepers.



Barrios (24-0, 16KOs) and Akhemedov (7-0, 6KOs) began negotiations in early July for the ordered super lightweight title fight, both carrying lengthy knockout streaks heading into what is the biggest fight for each to date.

San Antonio’s Barrios racked up his eighth consecutive stoppage with a two-round dismantling of Juan Jose Velasco this past May in Fairfax, Va. The win came two weeks prior to the most recent victory for Akhmedov, a 24-year old southpaw from Russia by way of Kazakhstan who earned a 5th round stoppage of Francisco Piña this past May in Mexico.

The bout will mark just the third stateside appearance for Akhmedov, who is managed by Vadim Kornilov. His most recent fight in the U.S. also doubles as his most notable win to date, scoring a 9th round knockout of former lightweight titlist Ismael Barroso last August.

The winner will claim the WBA “Regular” super lightweight title.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Starts after 6 mins

[Best Coast]

Even though he lacks the pro experience of Barrios, Akhmedov has made phenomenal progress as a pro for a guy with only 7 pro bouts!! But Barrios is no pushover so I'll hold off on making a prediction until we get closer to fight time.

No matter how the fight turns out, it is a compelling matchup that gives a major boost to the Spence-Porter undercard!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight week

[Best Coast]

I've decided to go with Barrios by decision.

[margaret thatcher]

I've decided to go with Barrios by decision.

Tell me why, I haven't seen much of the Bat

[horndawg80]

I’ve gone for Uzbek early

[Ruthless-RKO]

[margaret thatcher]

Don't see either guy in that video?

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Here is what the fighters had to say Wednesday from the Wilshire Grand Ballroom II at the Intercontinental Hotel:

MARIO BARRIOS

“I appreciate everyone who made this fight happen. This is the biggest opportunity of my career and I’m excited. I had a great training camp and I’m prepared to put on a show for everyone watching.

“Winning this fight would mean everything to me. This has been a long road and I’ve been very patient. My opportunity is finally here and I’m not letting it slip by.

“His team pas put Akhemdov on the fast track to a world title, but it’s going to end up being their biggest mistake.

“I feel great at 140-pounds. This is the strongest I’ve felt in my career, which is why I have eight straight stoppages. I’m going in there with bad intentions for Saturday.

“I see myself right there with the champions at 140-pounds. I’m going to put them all on notice and the whole boxing world will have to take notice as well.

“The opportunity is in front of me right now. All I have to do is go out there Saturday night to take advantage.

“I have the ability to box or bang on the inside. I have speed, power and the size for this weight to be a problem. I’ve been ready for any of the top fighters.

“It’s been a long time since San Antonio had a world champion and having this chance to be the first in a while, makes it that much better. I promised my city a title when I turned pro, and it’s here now. No way I’m going home without that title.”

BATYR AKHMEDOV

“I’m not here to talk too much. I’m going to talk in the ring on Saturday night and have my hand raised.

“This was a long road for me. Since my first day in boxing, I wanted to fight for the title. Now I’m one step away. I believe in myself and I believe that on Saturday I’m going to bring the belt home.

“I don’t know much about Barrios and I haven’t watched his fights. My team has studied him and will come up with a great game plan. My opponent will only fight the style that I allow him to fight.

“I have been doubted my whole career. People have always said that I was moving too fast in the pros. Now we’re on the eighth fight and I’ll prove everyone wrong again.

“Being in the desert in Southern California for training is great for me. The sparring is great and combined with the coaching from Joel and Antonio Diaz, it’s a perfect complete package.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

ESPN had Akhmedov winning 114-112.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Akhmedov (7-1, 6 KOs), 28, a southpaw, dominated the CompuBox statistics, landing 238 of 924 punches (26 percent) while Barrios landed 135 of 772 (18 percent).

[giacomino]

Had it a draw because of the knockdowns. . Barrios landed the harder punches but Akhmedov threw and landed more. Bad scoring

[JxhDel.]

Bad decision.

[VicusVictus]

I believe Akhmedov edged the victory but that 12th round knockdown by Barrios saved him for a draw not a victory in my opinion and his knockdown in the 4th round.

[boxing_rocks]

Hometown robbery.

[margaret thatcher]

113-113

Looking at the scores I don't think the kds changed who won

[Woldemar]

IMO Batyr win this by UD (114-112)

[giacomino]

113-113

Looking at the scores I don't think the kds changed who won

Same. No way Barrios should have gotten the win, but Akhmedov was slinging a lot of garbage punches. Without the second knockdown I would have had him winning the round and the fight 115-113 but wasn’t particularly impressed with either guy.

[Boxing Prospect]

2 judges gave Barrios round 6...sorry can't see that.

I can see a round win for Barrios, a draw or a narrow win for Akhmedov. Can't do the mental gymnastics to get a 116-111 score

[Lenny Cravats]

I had Barrios winning the early rounds, but Akhmedov winning everything between the first and second knockdown.
113-113, on my card.

[Best Coast]

I had Barrios winning the early rounds, but Akhmedov winning everything between the first and second knockdown.
113-113, on my card.

Could have easily been a draw. The 2 knockdowns sealed the win for Barrios. If they have a rematch I think Akhmedov will win. The 116-111 was ridiculous!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Team Akhmedov To Protest Decision Loss To Mario Barrios

Immediately after the scores were announced for the WBA World Super Lightweight Title bout this past Saturday night between Batyr Akhmedov and Mario Barrios, a massive outpouring of boos from the huge Staples Center crowd combined with a blistering attack on the judges on social media from the press and fans occurred as the Uzbek star was robbed of victory by scores of 111-115 (Tim Cheatham), 111-116 (Jeremy Hayes) and 112-114 (Zachary Young). The bout took place on the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter Welterweight World Championship undercard and was telecast on Fox Sports PBC Pay-Per-View.

“I worked my whole life to become a world champion and when the opportunity came I clearly won the fight,” said the 28-year-old Akhmedov. “I dominated the fight from start to finish, re-watch the tape as I have and see how bad Barrios was hurt in every round. After the tenth round he wanted to quit he was so badly beaten. I don’t even think the judges watched the fight.”

Stated manager Vadim Kornilov, “This is the height of incompetence, these judges needed to be immediately held responsible to the full extent permitted. They stole the world title from Batyr. Look at the photos from the fight and after the fight, Barrios did not win that fight and his whole team didn't even expect to get their hand raised. Barrios is suspended and cannot enter the ring for the next six months, how is he going to defend his championship? He cannot fight for medicals reasons due to injuries suffered in the fight and Batyr could fight next month if the opportunity was given.”

“I am very positive that if Batyr lost a fight in a similar fashion, he would have given the belt over to the other guy, or would have been the one to request a rematch as he would not want to be a champion when millions all over the world saw that he did not win this fight and did not deserve the belt. We hope that Barrios being a real warrior that showed a lot of character and survived a very, very tough fight will support the rematch which I am sure the whole world will want to see.”

Continued Kornilov, “The rounds were easy to score, you saw who did the damage, and they got a number of critical rounds wrong. There were not that many close rounds and any other professional judge will confirm this, it's on them now, they have to live with what they did for the rest of their lives. Batyr will just go on towards his dream of becoming a world champion, what they did here is just an obstacle to his goal.”

“We will go ahead with filing an appeal with the World Boxing Association and requesting an immediate rematch. Batyr did what we expected he would do since this fight was ordered a year ago by the WBA for the mandatory position. If Batyr was getting beat up as bad as Barrios and had such a significant injury which looked like a cheekbone fracture which can cause damage to the eye socket, the fight would have been stopped.”

“Everything was done to help this kid get the victory that he did not deserve. We greatly appreciate all the fans, which unlike the judges, don't care who the A or B side is and where each fighter is from, the arena knew who won the fight and so did most of the experts all over the world that wrote about this fight on social media, and they unanimously put justice ahead of nationality and other aspects.”

https://tinyurl.com/y4jvlcyd

https://www.BS.com/team-akhmed ... os--143043