Sarita Promotions has made a major late addition to its televised “Big Time Boxing USA” lineup this Thursday night (May 23), with world-class super middleweight Ali Akhmedov He will face the always tough Encarnacion “Demoredor” Diaz in the 10th round. – Round game will take place from Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit and will be broadcast live on the leading global sports platform DAZN (8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT).
Akhmedov (20-1, 15 KOs) of Venice, California by way of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Diaz (18-4, 11 KOs) of San Jose, Costa Rica by way of Nicaragua, will compete in support of top American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin Jr. There will also be a 10-round main event fight against former U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas (22-2, 14 KOs) of ., and an intriguing eight-round co-fight with unbeaten former U.S. Amateur champion Joshua James Pagan (9-0, 4 KOs) of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and fellow unbeaten prospect Roger Hilley (13-0, 8 KOs) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the junior NABF super lightweight title.
Promoted by GGG Promotions, Akhmedov's biggest career win to date comes in late 2022 with a dominant 10-round decision over veteran IBF North American and WBC Silver super middleweight champion Gabriel Rosado at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was brought about when it was broken. The undercard of his hero and compatriot Gennady Golovkin's final fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Akhmedov's most recent ring appearance was in April of this year, when he quickly knocked out Carlos Rivero of Venezuela, then 26-3-1, in two rounds.
This will be Diaz's third fight this year, making his first appearance in a U.S. ring in a nearly eight-year professional career. He defeated Edwin Vargas in eight rounds in January and dispatched Nicaraguan Celso Ocampo in just two rounds in March. After losing in his professional debut, Diaz won 18 of his next 21 bouts, ranging from welterweight to light heavyweight.
“This is a great addition to an already packed night of boxing,” said event promoter Dmitry Salita. “We would like to thank GGG and Tom Loeffler for working together to make this event possible for our participants and fans around the world. It further demonstrates our desire to fight the most important fights and fulfills my personal commitment, which I believe is what is best for the fighters' careers and for the sport of boxing. This week's card is the biggest and best BIG TIME BOXING USA event yet!
True to Big Time Boxing's new format, several local prospects will appear in the evening's cheer matches, including Detroit's undefeated “Hitman 2.0” Davell Smith (8-0, 6 KOs).
