IBF #8-ranked Afghani-Canadian Arash Usmanee says he’s very disappointed to be missing out on his scheduled main event this Friday night at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
Usmanee (20-1-1, 10 KOs) was scheduled to face Mexican KO artist Juan Antonio “El Mozo” Rodriguez (25-4, 23 KOs) in a 10-round super featherweight battle before suffering an injury in training earlier this week, forcing him to withdraw.
“My feet got tangled in sparring. I had injured it before in my last two fights. I twisted it when my feet got tangled and I fell,” explained Usmanee. “I’m babying it. It’s a sprain, so it could take a while. Sometimes it heals quickly and sometimes it takes a bit. It’s starting to feel better. I have to wear a brace.”
The timing of the injury is especially unfortunate for Usmanee, who would have liked to use the momentum of a globally televised victory on Friday Night Fights to propel him into a rematch with arch rival Rances Barthelemy, who recently won the IBF World Championship at Junior Lightweight.
The pair fought to a very controversial draw in January of last year, a fight which many felt Usmanee deserved the nod.
“I was excited about it. It was a good fight for me. Barthelemy just won the title. It was perfect for setting up a rematch between me and him on a bigger stage.”
Still Usmanee is hoping Barthelemy’s words post winning the title were his true intentions
