Amir Imam (18-0, 15KOs) is one of the most exciting junior welterweights in boxing right now and his stock has never been higher than it is today. There is an understated demand for Imam coming off of his 4th round knockout over Fernando Angulo back in July on the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s El Paso show when he defeated Marcos Reyes by unanimous decision.
There is plenty to be excited about with Imam. Besides his incredible athleticism and boxing skillset, he has accumulated 8 stoppage victories in his last 10 fights.
The Albany, New York-born fighter nicknamed “Young Master” is hoping to make what would be his 4th appearance on the year by next month. Imam will perhaps be able to squeeze in his last outing of the year by next month, a fight that would likely be his last in 2015.
A source with knowledge revealed to TBV that Imam will be placed on the November 14th undercard headlined by Gary Russell Jr. who will defend his WBC featherweight title against Oscar Escandon on ShowTime Championship Boxing. There are few preliminary bouts set for the card, let alone significant undercard/co-feature attractions, although heavyweight Bermane Stiverne, who makes his return to the ring since his title losing effort in January to Deontay Wilder, is penciled in.
While there is no opponent set for Imam, two names have surfaced as potential foes, both of which represent Imam’s toughest fight to date.
Emmanuel Taylor and Karim Mayfield are both possible and equally likely at this point to face Imam.
Taylor was last seen in May of this year when he lost a slightly disputed but highly competitive decision against Antonio Orozco. The fight was close and both fighters conceivably did enough to have their hands raised in victory – the decision would’ve been well represented as a draw – but it was the lopsided 98-92 score that caused such uproar.
If Mayfield lands the fight, he will be coming off of a 12 month layoff – he was last seen in November of last year winning an 8 round unanimous decision against Michael Balasi. Before his last outing, Mayfield lost a 10 round unanimous decision to Taylor with a potential bout against Adrien Broner looming for the winner, which Taylor inevitably received and lost, though, he remained competitive in his losing effort.
Mayfield’s number was almost called twice this year, once as a replacement opponent for Shawn Porter and then again when Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced him as a potential opponent amongst Andre Berto for his September career finale. Mayweather ultimately chose Berto, but the surprise of both choices and the inevitable choosing of Berto suggests that Mayfield was closer to landing the fight than most might realize.
