Boxing

 

African Warrior Evans Ashira Signs with Don King!

22.08 - Undefeated WBA International middleweight champion Evans "The African Warrior" Ashira has signed a three year deal with the biggest, most successful, and most powerful, boxing promoter in the world; Don "Only In America" King!

No date for Ashira´s debut under the King-banner has been announced yet, but word is that it should be sometime soon.

Ashira, who is ranked number 11 WBA, number 3 IBA, number 13 WBC and number 15 IBO, started his professional career in 1998 in Denmark, and has so far fought all his 21 fights in this his adopted homeland. All 21 fights has been won, eleven by the short route.

In only his fight number eight, he out hustled, out punched and outboxed former world champion Jorge Vaca, knocking the Mexican down three times enroute to a clear, unanimous ten round decision victory. Three weeks later, the Danish-Kenyan won the IBF Intercontinental light middleweight title, stopping Argentinean Silvio Peppino in nine rounds. After only nine pro fights, Ashira was world ranked by the IBF.

He only defended that belt once, a seventh round knockout of American Darren Maciunski, before moving up to middleweight, a weightclass he has still only fought at twice. In his first fight at 160 lbs, Ashira dominated and viciously knocked out highly touted Swede Fredrik "Tyson" Alvarez in eleven rounds in June of last year.

The Alvarez fight secured Ashira both the WBA International laurels, as well as the IBA world title. Ashira was stripped of the IBA belt earlier this year for failure to defend, but the deal with Don King Productions should secure the hard-punching African a new shot at world honours, if he just
keeps on winning.

In his most recent fight, Ashira scored a clear points win over South American champion Francisco Mora, 34-4 (23), in a defence of the WBA belt, also sending his nemesis to the canvas three times in this fast-paced fight. This could turn out to be the last fight Ashira ever fights in Denmark, a country in which he is married, and raises two sons with his Danish wife Lene.

Last moth, the middleweight contender send out an open challenge to three time WBA world middleweight champion William Joppy. Joppy answered that he would be interested in fighting Ashira, if only their promoters could strike a good deal. Well, that wont be a problem now, as Joppy is also promoted by Don King. So is Bernard Hopkins, but he might be looking for more established names than that of his new stablemate.

In any case, the future looks brighter than ever for "The Warrior", after perhaps suffering from a case of underappreciation in Denmark by his former handlers. Fighting only three title fights in 12 outings after having won his first belt in fight number 9, doesn't look like the smartest way to bring a boxer up the ratings.

If anybody can take Ashira to the world title that he has dreamt about since his childhood, it must be Don King. And if there is a place that will surely appreciate this entertaining boxer/puncher/brawler, then its America. But hopefully it wont be "Only in America".

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