Light heavyweight prospect Ali Izmailov will face Charles Foster on Friday night on “ShoBox: The New generation.”
ALI IZMAILOV (10-0, 7 KOs) VS. CHARLES FOSTER (22-0, 12 KOs)
- When: Friday, June 9
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York
- TV/Stream: Showtime
- Division: Light heavyweight (175 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Richard Vansiclen vs. Juan Carrillo, light heavyweights; Avious Griffin vs. Jonathan Jose Eniz, welterweights
- Prediction: Izmailov UD
- Background: Izmailov and Foster headline the card that takes place annually during the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend in upstate New York. Izmailov, 30, is formerly a top Russian amateur who now trains with John David Jackson in Detroit. His handlers believe the slick boxer-puncher has the talent to rise to the top of the division. He last fought in March, when he stopped journeyman Marcelo Ruben Molilna in the first round. Foster is Izmailov’s toughest test, at least on paper. The 33-year-old southpaw from Connecticut was also a successful amateur but his professional career has yet to take off. He’s 3-0 since he returned from a two-year break during the COVID pandemic, including a sixth-round knockout of journeyman Rafael Fernandez Sosa this past December. He has stopped four of his last five opponents.