Shabaz Masoud and Jose Sanmartin have once again made weight for their crossroads bout.
Both boxers were under the 122-pound junior featherweight limit ahead of their DAZN-aired main event this Saturday from Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.
Masoud was a slim and trim 121.7 pounds, nearly identical to his weight of 120.8 pounds on October 20—one day ahead of their originally planned October 21 clash in Manchester.
Colombia’s Sanmartin was a stunningly light 120.2 pounds, nearly two pounds lighter than when he had to strip to get down to 122 three weeks ago when he thought there was going to be a fight that weekend.
As was the case for their previous weigh-in, the pair of junior featherweights had plenty to say—despite a language barrier.
Now all they have to do is get in the ring.
Masoud was an unfortunate late scratch when he fell ill shortly after the weigh-in for their previously scheduled outing on the Jack Catterall-Jorge Linares undercard. Sanmartin’s planned UK debut instead became a paid vacation in England, though with the immediate promise of the bout to land on this weekend’s card as part of Matchroom Boxing’s NXT GEN prospect-based series.
Saturday will end a ring absence of exactly one year for Masoud (11-0, 4KOs), a 5’7” prospect from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The unwelcomed inactive stretch comes on the heels of a career-best win to date, a 12th round stoppage of Jack Bateson in their battle of unbeaten prospects last November 11 in Sheffield, England.
Barranquilla’s Sanmartin (34-7-1, 21KOs) has lost two of his last three contests, both at the contender level. He suffered a third-round knockout last October 22 to Mauricio Lara, who won the WBA featherweight title just five months later. In his most recent outing, Sanmartin dropped a ten-round, unanimous decision to unbeaten Kevin Gonzalez, a top-rated junior featherweight who is on the cusp of title contention.
Main undercard, DAZN, 7:00 p.m. local time/2:00 p.m. ET
Cameron Vuong (1-0, 1KO), Blythe, Northumberland, UK, 137.55 pounds vs. John Henry Mosquera (5-4, 1KO), Valencia, Spain via Cali, Colombia, 140.3 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Calum French (4-0, 1KO), Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK, 137 ¾ pounds vs. Jeff Ofori (12-5-2, 3KOs), Tottenham, London, UK 138 pounds BANG ON—8 rounds, lightweight
Mark Dickinson (5-0, 1KO), West Rainton, County Durham, UK, 159.3 pounds vs. Grant Dennis (18-5, 3KOs), Chatham, Kent, UK, 163.4* pounds—10 rounds, middleweight
* Dennis was 3.4 pounds over the limit, fight will proceed
Ewan MacKenzie (8-0, 3KOs), Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, UK, 153.4 pounds vs. Ishmael Davis (11-0, 5KOs), Leeds, Yorkshire, UK, 153.65 pounds—10 rounds, junior middleweight
‘Before The Bell’ prelims, DAZN/Matchroom YouTube, 5:10 p.m. local time/12:10 p.m. ET
Ben Rees (1-0, 1KO), Ashington, Northumberland, UK, 184.45 pounds vs. Sadaam Moamed Da Silva Caetano (7-3, 5KOs), Brugge, Belgium, 183.6 pounds—6 rounds, cruiserweight
Jimmy Sains (1-0, 1KO), London, UK, 162.45 pounds vs. Jesus Lobeto (1-2-1, 0KOs), Principado de Asturias, Spain, 166.05 pounds—4 rounds, middleweight
Owen Rees (1-0, 1KO), Birtley, Tyne and Wear, UK 141.55 pounds vs. Konrad Czajkowski (2-1-1, 1KO, Skiadowice, Poland, 141 ½ pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (Formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox