On Sunday Moussa Gholam (27 years old) He faces the great test he has been waiting for, since the day he stood at the door of the Prada Galician gym asking for a fight At 14 years old and with the face of a child, Moussa – who grew up Larache, Morocco, with his grandmother and ended up in Barcelona at the age of 7 – he went down the stairs of the gym and when he told Emiliano that he wanted to fight, he laughed and asked him to be patient, but as soon as he put some mitts on him and saw how he struck, he corrected: ” You will fight sooner than I thought.”
Always under the care of Galician PradaMoussa –who started boxing to defend himself against those who harassed him and oppressed him in his place– gradually carved out a commendable career that led him to win the WBC Youth World Title in 2019 or the WBO Super Featherweight Championship in 2019, until he had a career of 31 fights, with 19 wins, 12 by KO, and 0 losses.
His numbers and his dream to fight for a world belt, a saying that always faded, until the opportunity came to him this Sunday, in his first fight outside of Spain, in Yekaterinburg, in the Russian Urals, against EInur Samedov (14-1, 5 KO’s), a showdown that Moussa’s team had been negotiating for months, but it was difficult to make it happen. The first proposal of the battle of the Russian promoter RCC -among others it leads to world champions Bivol and Rakhimov– came in July to face Zhora Hamazaryan (12-3-2, 9 KO’s).
This one was injured and the appointment was postponed to September 11, although the RCC proposed changes of the rivals: first Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (19-1, 10 KO’s) and finally Elnur Samedov, what do i accept But Gholam, who held visas, developed severe pneumonia and could not travel. The new date was set in October, but the war started by Putin forced the sports agenda to be paralyzed, until this fight was miraculously set, which could change the life of ‘King Khalifa’.
This will be a clash between two top ranks: golem –who combines his passion for boxing with his work as a medical assistant in ambulances– is ranked 38th and Samedov in 25th, so it would not be strange if the winner is among the top 15 in the world and is almost certainly close to a chance at the World Cup, which Moussa has worked hard for. Gallego Prada gave him an honest preparation, transferring many well-known left-handed fighters to Barcelona, former European champion Samir Ziani (33-3-1)the two-time former world challenger Jazza Dickens (32-4-0), Ivan Morales (35-4-0), brother of the former world champion Eric Morales or BBernard Torres (16-1-0).
After an endless journeyBarcelona, Istanbul, Moscow, Yekaterinburg–, Moussa steps on Russian soil convinced of his choice. “It’s a test to see if we’re ready for the big leagues. We have to win this match if we want to find ourselves in the match of my life. I was at 150%, against a pretty tough opponent, short, putting a lot of pressure and strange hands”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
