For the third time this year, things haven’t quite gone as planned for Serhii Bohachuk.
The junior middleweight contender was supposed to face former titleholder Israil Madrimov on the undercard of the December 21 rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. The winner of Bohachuk vs. Madrimov would be well-positioned to face a titleholder or fellow contender in 2025.
But then it was announced that Madrimov would also be fighting Vergil Ortiz Jnr on the undercard of the February 22 rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. For those skeptical that Madrimov would be able to do both in just 63 days, they were not surprised when Madrimov pulled out of the Bohachuk bout, citing a case of bronchitis.
Instead, Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) will take on late replacement Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs), who is coming off a narrow majority decision loss to Josh Kelly in September.
“It’s disappointing, but at the same time Serhii stays on the show,” Bohachuk’s promoter, Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions, said in an interview with Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney, the hosts of At the Fights on SiriusXM.
“We’ve got a replacement for him, Ishmael Davis from the United Kingdom, so it’s not the same caliber fight, but Serhii was very confident going in to fight Madrimov. He’s still very confident going in to fight Davis,” Loeffler said. “And the great thing about staying on that show, the huge Usyk-Fury rematch show from Saudi, is that if he’s successful and beats Davis, that’ll open the doors for continuing in a big fight in 2025.”
In March, Bohachuk was supposed to fight Sebastian Fundora for the vacant WBC junior middleweight world title in March on the undercard of Tim Tszyu vs. Keith Thurman. But when Thurman got hurt, Fundora stepped in — and suddenly the main event was for both Tszyu’s WBO title and the WBC title. Bohachuk instead defeated Brian Mendoza for the interim WBC belt.
Then Bohachuk met Ortiz in August. He scored two knockdowns but lost a very close majority decision. His performance caught the eye of boxing financier Turki Alalshikh of Riyadh Season, who was there in attendance at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. That landed Bohachuk on this December 21 show in Riyadh.
“We just try to make the best of the situation,” Loeffler said. “Sometimes it breaks your way. The worst-case scenario would’ve been if they’d said the fight’s canceled, and Serhii’s not fighting, and that would’ve been a disaster because he’s been training really hard for December 21. I always try to look at the bright side. If he comes out and beats Ishmael Davis, that’s three world-class fights this year and then we’ll just build on that for next year.”
There will be a tactical adjustment for Bohachuk to prepare for Davis, who was a late replacement as well in that Kelly bout, stepping in for Liam Smith and nearly playing the spoiler.
“Definitely is a different style than Madrimov,” Loeffler said. “Madrimov has that Eastern European style that’s very effective and gave Terence Crawford a very, very tough fight. With Davis, a different style, a U.K. fighter. He took a fight at Wembley Stadium on the Anthony Joshua [vs. Daniel Dubois] show on short notice and gave Josh Kelly all he wanted. […] So he’s a tricky fighter. Definitely [Davis is] coming to win. This is a huge opportunity for him.”
Loeffler said they can only take Madrimov’s team at their word, and that they can only control what’s in front of them, even if who’s in front of them has changed.
“They told us he was sick. We’re not going to question whatever it is,” he said. “If they chose to fight Vergil Ortiz instead, then we’ll make the best of the Davis fight. Definitely cannot overlook Davis. And then it might be a fight next year, a rematch with Vergil Ortiz [if he beats Madrimov]. Or if Madrimov wins the fight, [a fight] with Madrimov. Fundora. Terence Crawford. There’s so many great names that I think 2025 will still be a huge year for Serhii Bohachuk.”
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