I have given up on him. There is another tall hard hitting southpaw Uzbek named Zokirov, who i think will do well, but who knows.
Zokirov is promising, but the problem is that he only had one professional fight in 2023, so I don't believe he has the experience...
yes he still seems keen on amateurs but i think he is only 22-23 years old. If he turns pro by 2028 and dedicates himself, he will likely be amazing. Then again, he could just be another Jalolov and love the amateurs and not have a desire for the pros.
Zokirov and a bunch of his compatriots have signed with Zuffa, I posted it a while back. He was training in the USA, for a presumable fight there.
Jalolov will face Agron Smakici on the Wardley-Dubois card. Chris Billiam-Smith will face Ryan Rozicki on June 6th in the UK.
Another part timer for Jalolov obviously. Rosicki isn't the worst opponent but surely with both under Zuffa - CBS and Opetaia should be fighting...
Smakici is pretty decent, gave Kabayel absolute hell few years back. The end goal is the Opetaia fight, but Zuffa wants to build the fight up, I reckon.
Jalolov was actually supposed fight Smackici on an IBA show about 2 years ago but pulled out to avoid a potential injury for the Olympics. A 1-0 Zokirov filled in on short notice and beat him. You could argue the latter has a better win in his 2 fight career than Jalolov does. Smackici’s a glass cannon who could trouble Jalolov in theory, but he’ll probably get hit too much early on and get stopped.
I’m still pulling for the vaunted Jalolov-Dychko Showdown. Let’s see if Jalolov can finally avenge his four defeats in an epic clash of Olympic underachievers.