Germany, United States and Latvia Play Host to WBO Bouts – Sadam Ali and others

The World Boxing Organization (WBO), chaired by Francisco “Paco”
Valcárcel, will celebrate five interesting title fights; two of which are
for world championships. The bouts will take place this Saturday, May 12.

Brooklyn native Saddam “World Kid” Ali (26-1, 14 KO’s), coming off the most
important victory of his career against legendary Puerto Rican boxer Miguel
Cotto, makes the first defense of his WBO junior middleweight world title,
when he faces the dangerous Mexican Jaime Munguía (28-0, 24 KO’s). The
fight will take place at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New
York. The fight will be televised live on HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET.

“We will have a lot of activity this Saturday from the WBO. You have to pay
close attention to the performance of the huge puncher Jaime Munguía, who
will face a good attacker like Ali. It’s going to be a classic fight of
puncher against a boxer. If Munguía wins, he would be placed on a select
list of great Mexican boxers who have been world champions at or before 21
years of age”, said Valcárcel.

In Augsburg, Germany, women’s boxing takes the stage when the popular
former world champion Nikki Adler (16-1, 9 KO’s) of Germany and the world
contender Femke Hermans (6-1, 3 KO’s) of Belgium, face each other for the
vacant WBO world belt of the super middleweight division. The fight will be
in the Eisstadion in Augsburg.

“We remain committed and supportive of women’s boxing. Germany is no
exception. This great fight has the community looking on because there is a
world title at stake and the fight will be liked by the public”, said
Valcárcel.

In Latvia, three WBO International titles will be in play in 12-round duels
in an evening at the Riga Arena. For the vacant International junior
middleweight belt, the 13th ranked Ismail Iliev (10-0-1, 3 KO’s) of Nazran,
Russia will face Konstantin Ponomarev (33-0, 13 KO’s) of Miass, Russia.

Also, the WBO International Lightweight Champion and 5th ranked Isa Chaniev
(12-1, 6 KO’s) of Nazran, Russia, will defend his title against the strong
Venezuelan puncher, Ismael Barroso (20-1-2, 19 KO’s).

For the vacant middleweight WBO International belt, Artur Akavov (18-2, 12
KO’s) from Russia, will face against Argentina’s Gonzalo Coria (12-1, 5
KO’s).

“We are making a presence in eastern Europe. This time, it was Latvia’s
turn to have boxers who are already ranked in the top positions of the WBO
and for the rest of the year, could be fighting for world titles”,
expressed Varcárcel.