-
Steve KimESPN
Danny Roman, the IBF/WBA junior featherweight champion, has pulled out of his scheduled bout against Murodjon Akhmadaliev. This fight was to have taken place Sept. 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“He’s got a left shoulder injury, we don’t know the full extent but we should know by tomorrow. We already did MRIs last week,” Alex Camponovo, the general manager of Thompson Boxing, confirmed to ESPN on Monday.
According to Roman’s trainer and manager, Eddie Gonzalez, the shoulder was damaged Aug. 19 while sparring. “He felt a lot of pain,” said Gonzalez, who noted that Roman was given some time off from the gym and had acupuncture sessions but that the pain flared up again a few days later.
“We’ll get a definite answer on Tuesday from the surgeon to know if he’s going to have surgery or not. They’re saying it’s a partial tear,” said Gonzalez, who mentioned that his fighter will be seeing Dr. Richard Rogachefsky.
Roman (27-2-1, 10 KOs), who won the vacant IBF title in September 2017 by stopping Shun Kubo in Japan, made four successful defenses of that belt before unifying the title by defeating TJ Doheny over 12 rounds in an entertaining affair in Inglewood, California, in April.
Akhmadaliev (6-0, 5 KOs) is his WBA mandatory and thought to be a legitimate challenge. But for the time being, Roman will be sidelined.
“He has no strength in his shoulder,” Gonzalez said. “He can’t exercise, he can’t spar, he can’t fight, bottom line.”