POPULAR Liverpudlian fighter Jazza Dickens will travel overseas for the fourth time in his professional career on July 2. The 34-year-old, now competing at super-featherweight, faces a formidable challenge against fellow southpaw Albert Batyrgaziev in Istanbul. Batyrgaziev, 12-0 (8 KOs), will defend his IBA.PRO and WBA Interim super-featherweight titles in the main event of the IBA.PRO 7 Champion’s Night.
Dickens, 35-5 (14 KOs), secured a career-boosting victory in his last outing, outpointing former world title challenger Zelfa Barrett. The Scouser is on a three-fight winning streak since his defeat to Hector Andres Sosa in Dubai two years ago. Dickens campaigned around the 130lbs limit early in his career before moving to super-bantamweight, where he faced the legendary Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux. Unfortunately, Dickens retired in the second round of that bout with a broken jaw.
His 14-year career has been a rollercoaster, featuring notable wins against Martin Ward (for the British super-bantamweight title), Leigh Wood, Ryan Walsh, and Lerato Dlamini – the latter securing him the IBO featherweight belt. Facing the unbeaten Batyrgaziev may be his toughest test since Rigondeaux. The 2020 Olympic gold medallist, undefeated in 12 fights since his 2020 debut, showed vulnerability in March against then-unbeaten Neri Romero, being floored twice in the third round. Batyrgaziev responded by dropping Romero in the fourth, though he was penalised a point for striking Romero while down.
Twelve months ago, Batyrgaziev demonstrated his ruthlessness, stopping brave Irishman Jono Carroll in the ninth round during their clash in Serpukhov. The Batyrgaziev-Dickens main event is supported by a compelling super-lightweight bout featuring Armenia’s 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Hovhannes Bachkov (7-0, 6 KOs) against Uzbekistan’s Shohjahon Ergashev (25-2, 22 KOs) in an IBA.PRO-rated contest.
The IBA.PRO 7 card will also feature bare-knuckle boxing bouts under the IBA Bare Knuckle banner. Russia’s Mikhail Tarabrin will participate in one such fight, with his opponent to be announced soon.
