Chalabiyev vs Njangiru expected to captivate in China
10 July 2015
APB2015
The final two AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) Cycle I Round 2 Bantamweight (56 kg) matches take place on Saturday night in Guiyang, China, and both can be viewed live and free from 19:00 (GMT +8) at https://www.youtube.com/user/AIBAproboxingTV.
Reigning AIBA World Champion Javid Chalabiyev (AZE) fights in the main event against Benson Gicharu Njangiru (KEN), with both men eager to return to winning ways after defeats in Cycle I Round 1.
Chalabiyev won the first round of his match with Alberto Melian (ARG) and also impressed in the latter stages, but though the fight was scored a draw according to one judge, he lost the bout on the remaining two scorecards.
Two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Njangiru was defeated by Jiawei Zhang (CHI) in a truncated bout last time out, so he will be keen to clinch a vital victory in order to move back up the Bantamweight rankings.
At 23-years-old, Chalabiyev is seven years younger than his African opponent, and is a strong pressure fighter with a good technical boxing style.
Njangiru is supremely well conditioned and defensively minded, but will have to be cautious in the opening stages against Chalabiyev as he has never gone past six rounds in APB.
With this fight taking place over eight frames, conserving energy will be a must for the Kenyan star, which his Azeri rival will be keen to exploit.
A second Bantamweight bout will also take place in Guiyang, as debutants Lunzhi Wang (CHI) and Altangerel Davaadalai (MGL) aim to earn their first APB victory.
