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Hatton Promotions are branching out into Kazakhstan when they stage a show there on Friday 27th January 2012.
It is a co-promotion with Yerik Jailauov and the bill, being held in Petropavlovsk, will be topped by their exciting new signing – Zhanat Zhakiyanov.
The 24-year-old EBU-EE bantamweight champion will box a ten-rounder against Thailand’s former WBC international silver champion – Noppadol Khongchana and hopes victory will propel him towards a crack at European champion – Jamie McDonnell.
Zhakiyanov, who has won 16 of his 17 bouts, inked a promotional agreement with Hatton Promotions after stopping Anwar Alfadli in Blackpool last August.
He is also ranked third in the EBU rankings and Hatton Promotions CEO Ricky Hatton said: “We are building good contacts all over the globe and Kazakhstan is another country where we feel there is untapped talent. Zhanat looked very good on our card in the summer and we are looking at showcasing him in England. Hopefully he’ll become mandatory contender for Jamie’s crown.”
Temperatures will be -30 centigrade in the Northern Kazakhstan city and Hatton Promotions will be represented by their European agent – Philippe Fondu.
He will make an exhausting journey flying from Manchester to Almaty where he will catch an internal flight to Astana. From there, it’s a 10 hour journey by train to Petropavlovsk.
Fondu said: “It will all be worthwhile because Zhanat is an exciting talent and would be a more than credible challenger for McDonnell. He will be boxing in his home city for the first time as a professional thanks to Ricky’s kind support.”
Zhakiyanov won his title last May when he travelled to Switzerland and shocked Benjamin Pitteloud by flooring the local hero twice and stopping him in two rounds. He has already boxed in several other countries including Thailand – gaining experience in some of Asia’s toughest gyms.
