PETER MCGRAIL will face a new opponent on June 21 following the withdrawal of Shabaz Masoud.
The two 29-year-olds had been set to face one another at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. Earlier today, however, their promoters Matchroom announced that the IBO super-bantamweight title was off.
In a social media post on X, they wrote: ‘Shabaz Masoud has sustained an injury in training and his fight on June 21 against Peter McGrail has been cancelled. We wish Shabaz a speedy recovery.’
They added that McGrail, 11-1 (6 KOs), will now face Ionut Baluta, 17-5-1 (3 KOs), a regular visitor to Britain having fought here on nine occasions. Baluta’s current win/loss record on his travels to the UK is 4-4 with the other ending in a technical draw against Dennis McCann. The Spanish-based Romanian lost the rematch but holds wins over Brad Foster and Andrew Cain. His all-action style presents a completely new challenge for McGrail who would have faced something of a chess match against Masoud.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist and 2020 Olympian has bounced back in positive fashion since his shock defeat to Ja’Rico O’Quinn in Arizona in 2023. Wins against Marc Leach, Brad Foster and last December against Rhys Edwards have boosted the Liverpudlian’s credentials as he seeks to make his mark on the world scene which has taken him to #6 in the WBA’s super-bantamweight rankings.
McGrail-Baluta is part of an undercard headlined by Galal Yafai’s WBC Interim flyweight title against Francisco Rodriguez.
