Shelestyuk, Maestre Make Weight For WBA Welterweight Semifinal Eliminator
Taras Shelestyuk travels north of the U.S. border for his greatest pro struggle to date as a bigger fight proceeds in his home place.
The unbeaten Ukrainian southpaw—who now lives and trains in Los Angeles–is established for a showdown with fellow undefeated welterweight Gabriel Maestre. Each boxers weighed right at the 147-pound divisional limit for their scheduled 12-round primary function Friday night at Montreal On line casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The bout is sanctioned by the WBA as a semifinal eliminator in an presently logjammed welterweight division.
Shelestyuk (19-, 11KOs) used his first 18 pro fights solely in the U.S, commencing with his March 2013 pro debut in Verona, New York. The 36-year-old contender traveled to Mexico for his most latest start off, a tenth-round stoppage of Ernesto Espana very last Oct in Cancun.
Shelestyuk claimed a Bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics as section of the very same staff from Ukraine that boasted Gold medalists Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk and bronze medalist Oleksandr Gvozdyk. All a few went on to grow to be entire world champions in the professional ranks.
Lomachenko and Usyk have been forced to set their rapid boxing strategies on maintain to just take up arms for Ukraine in defense against the ongoing Russian invasion. Shelestyuk—who moved to Los Angeles shortly soon after 2012 London—has continuously spoken out against the war, calling for peace whilst teaching for Friday’s most important party.
Venezuela’s Maestre (4-, 3KOs)—who is now based mostly out of Barranquilla, Colombia—enters the battle on the heels of a very questionable acquire that saw fast alter in the activity, specifically the manner in which the WBA has given that sanctioned fights. The two-time Venezuelan Olympian truly passed on a probability to represent his household place in past summer’s Tokyo Olympics to rather progress with his professional profession.
That selection led to his most the latest bout, a extensively disputed unanimous final decision victory over Mykal Fox in their WBA interim welterweight title combat final August in Minneapolis. The controversial consequence prompted field-wide outrage, together with the WBA being place on discover by the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) who identified as for the sanctioning overall body to suppress its observe of doling out numerous titles for every division.
The WBA quickly responded by stripping Maestre of the belt and ordering an rapid rematch. WBA interim titles have been taken out from circulation quickly thereafter, a growth that prompted Fox’s handlers to pull the boxer from negotiations which permitted Maestre to keep a lofty placement in the WBA welterweight scores.
Irrespective of the fight carrying title eliminator status, the winner is not instantly granted a distinct shot at the title. WBA “Super” welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12KOs) is presently on study course to deal with WBC/IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence (27-, 21KOs) in a 3-belt unification bout atop an April 16 Showtime Pay back-Per-See function from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Radzhab Butaev (14-, 11KOs) presently retains the WBA “World” welterweight title, which he is thanks to defend from necessary challenger Eimantas Stanionis (13-, 9KOs 1ND). The bout is reportedly established to also just take spot on the April 16 Showtime PPV function, even though not however formally declared. The winners of Spence-Ugas and Butaev-Stanionis are mandated to subsequent meet, as for each an settlement reached involving Ugas and Stanionis in lieu of their have earlier requested title struggle.
The winner of Friday’s most important event will occupy the range-two slot in the WBA’s subsequent established of rankings which are up to date at the finish of each month.
Below are the weights for the relaxation of the undercard.
Kim Clavel (14-, 2KOs), Montreal, 107.6 pounds vs. Mariela Ribera Valverde (11-6, 8KOs), Trinidad, Bolivia, 106.6 pounds—10 rounds, for Clavel’s WBC “Silver” junior flyweight title
Mathieu Germain (19-2-1, 8KOs), Mascouche, Quebec, 144.2 pounds vs. Eric Inzunza Angulo (8-2, 8KOs), Culiacan, Mexico, 142.4 pounds—8 rounds, welterweight
Louis Jourdain (2-1, 1KO), Saint-Antoine, Quebec, 135 lbs vs. Jorge Castro (3-4-2, 1KO), Guadalajara, 134 pounds–4 rounds, light-weight
Derek Pomerleau (professional debut), Montreal, 162.4 lbs . vs. Daniel Beaupre (1-, 1KO), Halifax, Nova Scotia, 160.8 pounds–4 rounds, middleweight
Samuel Lajoie Dery (1-1, 1KO), Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, 145.4 lbs . vs. Jose Atocha Pacheco (1-1, 1KO), Merida, Mexico, 146 pounds—4 rounds, junior welterweight
Alexis Barriere (4-, 3KOs), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, 221.4 lbs . vs. Israel Nava Lopez (2-, 2KOs), Durango, Mexico, 206.2 pounds—4 rounds, heavyweight
Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
