Some of Kazakhstan’s most promising up-and-comers get the spotlight when MTK Global hits Almaty on February 27th.
The main event sees two-time world silver medalist Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2-0, 2 KO) take on Northern Ireland’s Steven Ward (13-1, 4 KO). The 29-year-old Kunkabayev appears to be getting an enthusiastic push, as while Ward got eaten alive by Ricards Bolotniks in the Golden Contract tournament, he’s a fair bit tougher than your average prospect’s third opponent.
Two other noteworthy names are slated to appear as well. One is Hovhannes Bachkov (1-0, 0 KO) an Armenian amateur ace who saw his time at the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers cut short by COVID. The other is Janibek Alimkhanuly (9-0, 5 KO), who’s shown some nice power lately after a slow start to his pro career.
Both fight TBA.
Times zones being what they are, this figures to end well before the evening’s biggest attraction in Canelo Alvarez vs. Avni Yildirim. There are definitely worse appetizers out there.