Glitz And Glamour At The Monte Carlo Boxing Showdown

By Joseph Hammond

Monte Carlo is renowned for its luxurious lifestyle was home to world championship boxing this past weekend. Nestled on the French Riviera along the Mediterranean coast, is home to the iconic Monte Carlo Casino. The city is also celebrated for hosting the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, a highlight in the Formula 1 and the legendary football club AS Monaco.

Matchroom, Eddie Hearn's promotional partner, partnered with the Casino de Monte Carlo in hosting the premiere boxing event which was very much a black tie affair and was hosted with a level of elegance rarely seen in boxing.

In this year’s main event, Murodjon Akhmadaliev claimed the interim WBA super bantamweight title with a third-round knockout victory over Ricardo Espinoza Franco at Salle Des Étoiles.

“It was evident from the opening bell that Murodjon Akhmadaliev was a cut above Ricardo Espinoza in their WBA interim super bantamweight title fight on Saturday, and the Uzbekistani fighter wasted little time proving his class as he defeated the Mexican to earn his 13th professional victory,” said DAZN in a statement on the fight.

The Uzbek fighter known as “MJ” has his eyes set on a showdown with Japanese Slugger Naoya Inoye next year following his interim title win. Inouye to maintain his title he now must face MJ. While MJ would likely travel to Tokyo for that fight, Riyadh is another possibility given Inoye’s strong relationship with Saudi Arabia and Turki Al Sheikh, the Saudi boxing leader.

On social media, DAZN was more emphatic about the win, describing it as an “An absolute BEATDOWN” of his Mexican opponent.

In the chief supporting bout of the evening Cheavon Clarke faced a tough challenge in his bid for the European cruiserweight title. Leonardo Mosquea defeated Clarke in that match-up via split decision. Mosquea stared out the aggressor and Clarke had few answers for the French based Dominican Republic fighter’s sharp left hook. Clarke focused a lot of his efforts on a sustained body attack early before switching to a more ranged attack. He had more success in the later but, the judges' score cards were more than fair. There were a lot of rounds where the judges apparently preferred the hard punches of Mosquea versus the sharp boxing of Clarke. Mosquea was caught repeatedly with some of Clarke’s best punches but shrugged them off.

Ringside, Mosquea was one of the principal draws on the card with numerous fans traveling from France to Monaco just for this event. An equally large contingent of British fight fans came out to see the many promising British fighters on the card.

Beatriz Ferreira defended her IBF women's lightweight title via unanimous decision victory over Licia Boudersa of France. Ferreira showcased her aggressive style and dominance throughout the fight. All of the judges scored the bout 100-90 in her favor. Now boasting a record of 6-0 (2 KOs), Ferreira is rapidly advancing in her professional career and may soon face Britain's Caroline Dubois. Dubois who was recently upgraded to full WBC lightweight world champion has a lot of potentially interesting fights in her future.

Since its inception in 2017, the Monte-Carlo Showdown has featured some of boxing's biggest names, including WBA Light-Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol, Chinese Heavyweight Zhilei Zhang, former top-ranked women's fighter Cecilia Braekhus, Heavyweight favorite Derek Chisora, and former WBA Super-Flyweight Champion Kal Yafa have all fought on the Showdown cards.