The slick Cuban spoiler makes the 2nd defense of his WBA lightweight title on March 6th in Liverpool, home of challenger Derry Matthews. Abril is no stranger to defending the belt - or vying for it, period - in hostile territory. In 2011 he fought and beat Miguel Acosta in Panama for the interim title. In 2012 he fought Brandon Rios in Las Vegas and lost the belt in a highly controversial split decision. (this was the only time Abril fought in 2012) In 2013 he reclaimed it against 23-0 unbeaten prospect Sharif Bogere in the Ugandan's adopted home of Las Vegas. (this was the only time Abril fought in 2013) In 2014 he defended it successfully against 23-0 unbeaten prospect Edis Tatli in Tatli's native home of Helsinki, Finland. (this was the only time Abril fought in 2014) This makes five straight years of WBA lightweight title contests - and possibly four straight where those constitute his only action in the ring. Hopefully this year he breaks that pattern and becomes a more active champion, assuming he gets past Dirty D. While you can fault his inactivity (and may not love his style), however, you can't say he doesn't actively seek out the best. Many of the best at 135lbs have signed to face him and pulled out at various stages. He still has managed to get in with a decent enough class. His last two opponents were a combined 46-0 when he met them. His last three were 75-0-1. His last four were 104-4-3. Not too shabby, considering all were also world ranked (and in Acosta's case, actively champion) and he is considered by many to have gone 4-0 in that run, winning nearly every round. If he does retain in March, Abril has been actively calling out Terence "Bud" Crawford on social media for a unification match later this year. :bbb
I know. :sad2 I actually really am bummed. Not that we didn't get to see it, but that we didn't get to find out who the better man was. I'm definitely not broken up about the not seeing it part.
Abril is a good boxer. I was watching him last year in live when he fought Tatli. Good skills, cuban slickster style, hard to hit. Looking forward what he brings in the future.
He should have been fighting Crolla tonight . Crolla was mugged in in a home robbery and took bad damage to his head. Extremely bad break for the guy
Abril has expressed sympathy and well-wishes for Crolla and said that he regrets seeing him miss his chance like that. Matthews isn't the worst replacement for Crolla by any means, considering he's 1-0-1 (1) against him.
:good Awesome. Maybe he will get his shot at Abril after all. (or, alternately, we get Matthews vs. Crolla III :yep)
With a cracked skull? That would be amazing if he can come back from that. Abril is just that, a spoiler the risk is so great against him. He's like fighting Herrera. Youre gonna look bad no matter what. He still deserves his time in the spotlight though
Ideal scenario: Gamboa beats Linares. Abril vs. Gamboa in the All-Cuban WBA/WBC unification match for LW supremacy.
