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Azizbek Abdugofurov steps up against Pavel Silyagin on Beterbiev-Deines card

Super middleweight Azizbek Abdugofurov. Photo by Otabek Khaydarov/BUKA Boxing
Fighters Network
15
Mar

World-rated super middleweight Azizbek Abdugofurov will end a 19-month hiatus when he faces former amateur standout Pavel Silyagin as chief support to Artur Beterbiev-Adam Deines at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow on Saturday.

The ESPN broadcast will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET/ 12:00 p.m. PT.

Abdugofurov (13-0, 5 knockouts) is excited to be returning on such an illustrious promotion.

“I am very happy to box in such a high-class promotion,” Abdugofurov told The Ring through manager Vikram Sivapragasam. “For me, this is a great chance to show myself. Thanks a lot to the organizers for giving me this chance.



“I want to thank Pavel Silyagin for accepting this fight. I’m ready and will show it in the ring.”

The 29-year-old Uzbek, who was previously featured on RingTV.com as a New Faces subject, believes his Russian adversary will provide a stern test.

“[Silyagin] is a very worthy opponent,” said Abdugofurov, who will arrive in Moscow on Wednesday. “I watched him with my coach, Ilgar Aliyev. Silyagin has a very good amateur background, he switch-hits and has a terrific jab.”

In preparation, Abdugofurov trained in the Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent, for two months before spending three weeks in Andijan.

Sivapragasam is happy to finally be able to move his fighter’s career forward following some problematic promotional issues.

“We were with Queensberry [Promotions] and hoped to get Aziz more fights in the U.K.,” explained the Malaysian businessman. “Things didn’t turn out as we expected. Now I have signed Azizbek with Vladimir Boxing Promotions, and we intend to keep him active and push for a world title.”

Silyagin won bronze at the 2015 World Championships as an amateur before turning professional in February 2020. Since then, the 27-year-old Russian has been very busy, fighting and winning all six fights, four inside the distance. He looked particularly impressive stopping previously unbeaten Orkhan Gadzhiev (RTD 2).

This bout marks a significant step up for both fighters.

 

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright.

 

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