News has reached The Ring that rising heavyweight contender Arslanbek Makhmudov will face former heavyweight title challenger Mariusz Wach in Canada on January 22.

Makhmudov’s promoter, Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management, was pleased to secure a durable opponent for his heavyweight hopeful.

“We continue the road to the top of the mountain with the king of the jungle, ‘The Lion’ Arslanbek Makhmudov,” Estephan told The Ring. “We believe it’s a great fight versus Mariusz Wach that will bring Arslanbek closer to our ultimate goal to crown him a world heavyweight champion.”

The 32-year-old Canadian-based Russian won both his fights this year, stopping both Pavel Sour and Erkan Teper inside one round.

Makhmudov, who was the subject of a New Faces feature in the July 2020 issue of Ring Magazine, has impressed thus far, stopping 10 of his 13 professional opponents in the opening round and taking his record to 13-0 (13 knockouts).

Wach (36-7, 19 KOs) has been a professional since 2005. He won his first 27 fights before losing to unified heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko (UD 12) in 2012. After returning to the win column with four wins he was stopped by Alexander Povetkin (TKO 12). The Polish fighter has also lost to the likes of Jarrell Miller (TKO 9), Dillian Whyte (UD 10) and, more recently, Hughie Fury (UD 10).

Wach will hold height and weight advantages over Makhmudov and although he’s been stopped on three occasions, he’s never been taken out early.

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

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