News broke yesterday that American middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams will challenge WBC world champion Carlos Adames on January 31, and Italian boxing fans have every reason to be pleased. The developing scenario in the 160-pound division could, in fact, push our Etinosa Oliha toward a world title opportunity — with very real chances of capitalizing on it.
Oliha is ranked second in the IBF middleweight standings (the No. 1 spot is currently vacant). Right behind him, in third place, is Austin Williams — and indeed, the two were expected to clash this summer in a final eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger for the world title. That fight, however, fell through at the last minute because Oliha was forced to undergo surgery for a retinal injury.
Meanwhile, the reign of IBF champion Janibek Alimkhanuly may be nearing its end. The Kazakh boxer tested positive for meldonium, a banned substance, shortly before his planned unification bout with Cuban champion Erislandy Lara, and was consequently removed from the event. Sports authorities will now have to address the case: a suspension and subsequent stripping of Alimkhanuly appear very likely.
In a short span of time, then, Oliha has seen the reigning champion placed at risk of removal and the most dangerous contender near him in the rankings heading in a different direction. If everything falls into place, our boxer could end up fighting for a vacant title against a lower-ranked opponent — less accomplished and less threatening than Austin Williams.
In fourth place sits former world champion Vincenzo Gualtieri, a German fighter of Italian descent who, incidentally, shares the same promotional company as Oliha: AGON Sports & Events. Not surprisingly, AGON’s official X account liked a post of mine yesterday in which I described the Adames vs. Williams announcement as very promising news for Etinosa Oliha.
It remains unclear whether the German promotional company would willingly match its two fighters against each other for a world title. On one hand, it would mean exposing one of them to defeat; on the other, it would guarantee AGON a world champion. On paper, Oliha seems to have all the tools needed to overcome Gualtieri, who last year required a very generous verdict to beat our Joshua Nmomah and who this year narrowly outpointed Alexander Pavlov — a boxer that Oliha stopped in just three rounds.
The situation remains fluid, and we can only wait to see how things unfold for our national representative. What is certain is that compared to a few months ago, the likelihood of seeing an Italian boxer wearing one of the sport’s four major world titles now appears significantly higher.