EVGENY Gradovich has reportedly pulled out of his scheduled April 23 title fight against Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, citing an upcoming 10-round bout on Jan. 9 against Jesus Galicia in Valencia, Spain and his desire to first test the waters at 122 pounds after dropping down from the featherweight division.
The Standard/boxingmirror.com learned that Hungary’s Zsolt Bedak has stepped in as a replacement for Gradovich.
But the fight hasn’t been finalized yet with the possibility that Gradovich may reconsider his decision and face Donaire.
Bedak has a record of 25-1 with 8 knockouts and is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision over Nick Otieno of Kenya last Sept. 19.
Bedak lost by a 10th round technical knockout in a battle for the World Boxing Organization title against Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., who subsequently lost to Donaire by a split decision in February 2012 at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas.
Prior to the title fight, Bedak scored a seventh-round knockout over Ramie Laput of the Philippines in a WBO Intercontinental title fight in Austria.
His record suggests that Bedak may be a good boxer, but like Gradovich, lacks the power to trouble a fighter of the quality of Donaire, who possesses a lethal left hook.
The 32-year-old Bedak was a member of the Hungarian Olympic team in Athens in 2004 when he fought as a bantamweight and scored a big win over Abner Mares.
He was also WBO European super bantamweight champion from 2009 to 2014 and previously held the WBO Intercontinental title in 2009.