By Per-Åke Persson
It is official: Heavyweights Umut “Anatolian Lion” Camkiran (25-0, 23 KOs) and Mourad “White Wolf” Aliev (15-1, 11 KOs) meet November 7 at the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul (Turkey) in a highly interesting fight with two fighters at the crossroads of their respective career.
At stake is the WBC Silver title.
As an amateur Aliev was at the absolute top and fought in the 2021 Olympics representing France but lost to UK representative Frazer Clarke, a man he had previously defeated, in the quarter finals. He then turned pro with Arena Box Promotion and Ahmet Oener but while he kept winning he failed to impress.
His big test came against EBU champ Labinot Xhoxhaj and Aliev disappointed in losing a unanimous decision. He has gone 2-0 since then but needs a good win badly.
Camkiran has won a number of WBC sub titles and has an impressive record but there are no “names” on it and at the age of 37 there is no time to waste.
The event is streamed by DAZN.
