Boxer who cut Tyson Fury and caused Oleksandr Usyk postponement will face Olympic gold medalist in next fight

Agron Smakici is set to box Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov in his next outing.

Boxing fans will remember Smakici as the man who cut Tyson Fury and delayed his undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk.

The Croatian puncher opened a gash above Fury’s right eye that required 11 stitches after accidentally hitting an elbow during one of “The Gypsy King’s” final training sessions.

As a result, organizers had no choice but to push back the fight from the originally proposed date of February 17 to May 18.

Now, Smakici is set to return to the ring for the first time since that freak accident as he prepares to face Jalolov on April 14 at the Humo Arena, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Jalolov is widely considered one of the most promising newcomers in the glamor division.

He is the current reigning World, Olympic and Asian amateur boxing champion and has a 14-0 record in the paid ranks.

Meanwhile, Smakici is 20-2 as a pro and recently unsuccessfully challenged for the European title against Agit Kabayel in an absolute barnburner.

Smakici fell and seriously injured Kabayel in the second round, but was stopped on his feet one round later.

That performance now looks much more impressive after Kababyel’s career-best win over Arslanbek Makhmudov last December, which earned him a top 10 heavyweight ranking according to Ring Magazine.

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Despite Smakici’s good performance against Kabayel, Jalolov emerges as the big favorite.

The Uzbek hopeful continues to juggle his amateur and professional career after signing a multi-year deal with Bob Arum’s Top Rank while recently qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

His decision to continue competing in amateur events after turning professional is controversial.

Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, professional boxers have been allowed to compete in amateur competitions, which has sparked backlash from members of the boxing fraternity.

Jalolov made headlines in 2019 when the 29-year-old, then 6-0 as a professional, knocked out highly-rated American amateur prospect Richard Torrez in brutal fashion.

This devastating ruling gave rise to an intense debate over the safety of professionals who can compete with amateurs.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said he thought it was “brutal and criminal” for Jalolov to be allowed in with Torrez given their lack of experience.

“It is brutal and criminal to allow professional boxer Jalolov of Russia (Jalolov is from Uzbekistan) with a score of 6-0 as a professional to fight against an outclassed, outmatched and much smaller American amateur from 20 years old, Torrez, during the AIBA World Championship in Russia,” he tweeted. .