By Vincent Morin
Albertan Steve “The Dragon” Claggett (37-7-2, 25 KO) continued his rise to the top of the super-lightweight division (140 lbs) by defeating Californian Miguel Madueno (30-2, 28 KO), Tuesday at the Montreal Casino, in the final of a gala presented by the group Eye of the Tiger (EOTTM).
The boxer managed by Mike Moffa and Michael Gadbois defended his NABF title (second defense) and got his hands on the WBO International belt thanks to a unanimous decision victory in 10 rounds (98-92, 99-91 and 99-91) .
It was Claggett's eighth consecutive win since his loss to Montreal's Mathieu Germain in 2021. He is now ranked 21e in the world among 140 lbs on the data site boxrec, which collects the records and results of professional fighters.
In the semi-final of the evening, Steven “Bang Bang” Butler (33-4-1, 27 KO) had to work hard to finally win by TKO in the ninth engagement against the tough Mexican Ivan Alvarez (32-15-4, 21 KO).
For this duel, the first since his loss in the WBO middleweight world championship against Kazakh Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, Butler was trained by American John “Iceman” Scully.
The Russian Imam Khataev (5-0, 5 KO) maintained his perfect record by dominating the Mexican Fernando Galvan (8-9-1, 2 KO), recording a victory by stoppage of the referee in the second round. This was Khataev's second outing under the EOTTM umbrella, as he currently resides in Australia.
The Turk Mehmet Unal (7-0, 6 KO) also stopped his rival, the Mexican Jaime Hernandez Lopez (10-11, 4 KO), in the second attack. The latter would have suffered a shoulder injury in the duel.
The young hopeful Wilkens Mathieu (5-0, 3 KO), only 18 years old, delivered his first six-round face-to-face against the Pole Grzegorz Mardyla (1-1-1, 1 KO). Mike Moffa's colt passed the test with flying colors with a triumph by unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54 and 60-54).
In the curtain raiser, the Frenchman Moreno Fendero (2-0, 1 KO) defeated the Mexican Cristian Lopez Lozano (2-3, 0 KO) by referee stoppage in the second round.
Makhmudov returns to Saudi Arabia
Heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-0, 17 KO) has no time to be idle. After his quick victory in 70 seconds over the American Junior Anthony Wright on the undercard of the clash between Tyson Fury and Francis N'Gannou on August 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he will be in action again in this country on the 23 December.
For the occasion, the aggressive 6'5'' pugilist will be pitted against the European champion, the German Agit Kabayel (23-0, 15 KO), in a huge card pitting Anthony Joshua against Otto Wallin, Deontay Wilder to Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois to Jarrell Miller and Dmitrii Bivol to Lyndon Arthur.
