Eddie Hearn confirms that Israil Madrimov’s medical problem, which caused him to pull out of his December 21st scheduled fight against Serhii Bohachuk, is genuine for the Riyadh Season card. Madrimov has acute bronchitis and couldn’t take the fight.
Hearn says His Excellency Turki Alalshikh chose Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs) to be the one to step in as the replacement opponent for former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) to face in a 12-round fight in the co-feature slot on the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 card at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Ishmael Steps Up
Davis stepped in on one week’s notice to fight highly ranked 154-lb contender Josh Kelly on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois on September 21st at Wembley Stadium in London and lost a 12-round majority decision. Kelly outboxed Davis.
Hearn says that he gave Turki several options to replace Madrimov, and he wanted Ishmael. He doesn’t say who the other fighters are. It would be interesting to know if Xander Zayas is one of them because that’s someone that fans would have wanted to see.
“Obviously, I know everyone is a conspiracy theorist. Israil Madrimov was 100% fighting Bohachuk, and then 100% fighting [Vergil] Ortiz, provided he won and was in good shape,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV, clearing the air about why Israil Madrimov pulled out of his fight with former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk on the December 21st card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“He had acute bronchitis. He went to the hospital. He hasn’t been well. It was diagnosed. He wanted to fight Bohachuk. I went back to His Excellency. He said, ‘Who is ready?’ His Excellency loves Ishmael Davis because he took the Josh Kelly [fight] on one week’s notice. He said, ‘Give me three or four options.’ I gave him three or four options.
“He came back and said, ‘Let’s go with Ishmael Davis.’ First of all, [he fought] Josh Kelly on one week’s notice [on September 21st and lost a 12-round majority decision at Wembley Stadium in London]. The difference is that he wasn’t fit against Josh Kelly. He wasn’t really in camp.
Ishmael lost that fight to Josh Kelly, and showed that he lacks punching power. That’s not a good thing for him to be taking on a heavy puncher like Bohachuk on two weeks’ notice for the Riyadh Season card on December 21st.
“He’s supposed to be fighting on fight week in Riyadh on the card [on December 21st]. This [time], he’s got two weeks’ notice against Bohachuk. Obviously, Bohachuk is a different kind of fighter to Josh, but we’re up for it. Ishmael Davis, in two months, has made a fortune, and I couldn’t be more happy for him,” said Hearn.
It’s nice that Davis is getting paid well to step in as the replacement opponent to face Bohachuk, but he’s going to be in for a world of hurt in this fight unless he gets on his bike to go into survival mode. Ishmael is a domestic-level fighter. Yeah, he gave Josh Kelly problems, but that guy isn’t a great talent. David Avanesyan destroyed Kelly in six rounds in 2021.
“He’s changed his life forever,” said Hearn about Davis. “He’s going to buy himself a nice house. He’s going to be able to look after his kids. All unexpected. He was supposed to be fighting for less than a tenth of what he was getting. What a story. If he goes out and beats Bohachuk, guess what? In his next fight, he’s going to make seven figures. Get up there, Ishmael.
“I love things like that. You are a real geezer. Let me tell you something else. Stay in shape, and stay ready,” said Hearn.
