Otabek Kholmatov weighed in at 125.8 lbs, and Raymond Ford scaled in at 125.9 lbs for their 12-round clash for the vacant WBA featherweight title this Saturday night on March 2nd, on ESPN at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, in Verona, New York. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ at 5:20 p.m. ET/2:20 p.m. PT.
In the chief support weights, IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez weighed 125.3 lbs, and his opponent Reiya Abe weighed 125.8 lbs.
It’s difficult to predict the main event between the unbeaten Uzbek Kholmatov (12-0, 11 KOs) and Ford (14-0-1, 7 KOs), considering both guys have faced limited opposition during their careers.
The 25-year-old southpaw Kholmatov has the better power of the two, but he’s more of a boxer. He’s scored a lot of knockouts due to his opposition not being the greatest. We don’t know how he’s going to react going up against a talented fighter like Ford.
Weights
Otabek Kholmatov 125.8 vs. Raymond Ford 125.9
Luis Alberto Lopez 125.3 vs. Reiya Abe 125.8
Brian Norman Jr. 147.2 vs. Janelson Bocachica 146.6
Bryce Mills 138.7 vs. Gerffred Ngayot 138.7
Troy Isley 159.3 vs. Marcos Hernandez 160.6
Rohan Polanco 142.9 vs. Tarik Zaina 142.4
Floyd Diaz 118 vs. Edwin Rodriguez 117.8
Nico Ali Walsh 156.9 vs. Charles Stanford 155.1
Brandon Moore 242 vs. Helaman Olguin 281.7
The 24-year-old Ford will be coming off an 11-month layoff since defeating Jessie Magdaleno by a 12-round decision last April. It was a good performance by Ford, who showed in that fight that he’s one of the better fighters in the 126-lb division. If Ford wins on Saturday night, he plans to make one defense and move up to super featherweight.
Interestingly, Top Rank has chosen to put IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez (29-2, 16 KOs) vs. Reiya Abe (25-3-1, 10 KOs) in the co-feature spot rather than the main event.
“It has been my dream to fight for a world title. I’ve been training my whole life for this. I’m ready,” said Kholmatov. “I love to fight. That’s all I have done in my life. So, I’m going to bring the fight on Saturday.”
“It’s finally here, and I’m going to take full advantage of it,” said Ford. “Shakur Stevenson is like a big brother to me. I’ve been sparring with him since I was in the amateurs.”