Former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith 29-2-1 (16) will step into the lion’s den when he faces undefeated Magomed ‘Black Lion’ Kurbanov 21-0 (13) over 12 rounds at KRK Uralets in Ekaterinburg in Russia on Friday night.
The 32-year-old from Liverpool has won three fights in a row since dropping a 12-round decision to Jamie Munguia in a fight for the WBO 154-pound belt in Las Vegas in July 2018 but has not fought since outpointing veteran Roberto Garcia in Phoenix in December 2019.
Russian Kurbanov, 25, has managed to stay much busier during the global coronavirus pandemic, fight three times last year for two early knockouts and a 10-round unanimous decision win.
“If you throw a challenge at me I’ll take it with both hands,” Smith said. “This fight was offered to me, so I watched a clip of Kurbanov and thought that if I turn up I’ll beat him 10 times out of 10.
“We’ve all been going through the pandemic and there haven’t been many offers coming in, so this was a fight I thought I’d take. Everything made sense to me and it’s a good fight that people are talking about.
“Kurbanov can punch a bit, and it’s a fight that has made me sit up, take notice and get my teeth into. I’m in very good shape and I can’t wait to be back.
“I’m in the last part of my career now, but I haven’t been in many wars and I live a good, clean life at home. I’m ticking all the boxes and performing well in the gym, so I can’t wait to be back under those lights.
“I’m happy with what I’ve been doing in the build-up and I’m confident of beating Kurbanov. I’m not looking past him, but if I beat him then the doors are wide open for some big fights.”
Smith won the vacant WBO junior middleweight belt against John Thompson in Manchester in October 2015 and defended the strap twice before losing it to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in Arlington, Texas one year later.
In other action streaming on ESPN+ welterweight contender Eduard Skavynskyi 13-0 (7), who was born in Ukraine and now resides in Yekaterinburg, will fight former world title challenger Joel Julio 39-5 (33) in a 10-rounder.
In a 10-round showdown for the vacant WBO European super bantamweight belt Evgenii Liashkov 8-1 (2) will go for his ninth consecutive victory against Mukhammad Shekhov 8-0-1 (3), a one-time amateur standout for his native Uzbekistan.
Enriko Gogokhia 12-0 (7), a former professional kickboxing standout from the nation of Georgia, will look to extend his knockout streak to five against Gustavo David Vittori 24-7-1 (12) in an eight-round junior welterweight contest.
Southpaw boxer-puncher Zafar Parpiev 9-2 (2), who is coming off a December knockout win over the previously undefeated Turat Osmonov, will fight Filipino veteran Alphoe Dagayloan 14-4-6 (5) in an eight-rounder at super flyweight.
