Israil Madrimov ‘unwell,’ Serhii Bohachuk gets new opponent

Israil Madrimov won’t fight Serhii Bohachuk on Dec. 21, but still has his fight with Vergil Ortiz in February.

Israil Madrimov is reportedly “unwell,” and will not be fighting Serhii Bohachuk on the Dec. 21 undercard for Usyk vs Fury 2 in Riyadh.

The 29-year-old Uzbek contender does still have his Feb. 22 fight with WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr, which had been announced for the Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 undercard, also in Riyadh, while Madrimov was still slated to face Bohachuk in a diehard-anticipated fight just two months prior.

In a world where serious contenders simply do not fight two fights like that within a two-month span, it’s going to naturally lead to the assumption that Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KO) simply chose the higher-profile, higher stakes matchup with Ortiz over the one with Bohachuk.

29-year-old Englishman Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KO) will replace Madrimov on Dec. 21.

The good news for Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KO) is he still has a fight on a big card, but it’s also not an ideal situation, even if Davis is, on paper, a much easier fight.

Davis stepped in on short notice in September, too, to face Josh Kelly in London, and lost a razor-thin majority decision over 12 rounds. Bohachuk will have to avoid the trap of being disappointed by the step down in profile for his fight, because Davis isn’t a scrub, he can box.

Davis also deserves credit for being willing to take a very tough fight on this sort of notice, and Bohachuk for being willing to face a very different sort of opponent than he’d spent weeks preparing to meet.