Undefeated Australian boxer Bilal Akkawy will continue his march down a super middleweight title on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs.
Per a report from Fox Sports Australia, Akkawy's next fight will take place on the May 4 event. The report also stated that he is expected to have a fight prior to that on March 9 in preparation for his May bout. Akkawy spoke to the publication about his time being a sparring partner for Canelo and earning the respect of him and trainer Eddy Reynoso.
"The first thing I thought to myself was, ‘Let’s see. I want to find out if I’ve got what it takes.' So, I went in there and went hard. Held my own, just first couple of spars were hard, [we] had wars. It’s a great satisfaction when someone like that — one of the biggest names in boxing — acknowledges your talent. It’s a great feeling, it’s a massive confidence booster. You feel like all your hard work over all those years — like the last six, seven years — it kind of like, ‘Alright, it’s started to paid off.’ At least someone acknowledges it," Akkawy said.
Akkawy is ranked No. 3 by the WBA and No. 9 by the IBF at 168 pounds and is coming off a win over Victor Fonseca last year. The fight took place on the undercard of Alvarez's WBA "Regular" super middleweight title win over Rocky Fielding on December 15, 2018.
The May 4 card will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the event being streamed on the DAZN platform in the United States, but no other bouts for the event have been officially announced. The fight between Alvarez and Jacobs will be for the unified WBA "Super," WBC, IBF and Ring Magazine middleweight titles.
