Haithem Laamouz (right) in a face off with Italy's Mario Alfano.
Malta’s boxer Haithem Laamouz will be fighting for the vacant EBU European Union super feather title belt when he takes on Italy’s Mario Alfano on Friday night.
The fight will be held at the Palaboxe Aurelio Santoro in Rome and will be screened live on Raisport at 11pm.
Haithem Laamouz during the weigh-in in Rome.
For Laamouz, Friday’s fight is a much-awaited return to the ring after recovering from a serious shoulder injury.
Laamouz is gunning to become the first Maltese boxer to win a world title and Friday’s fight could be the first step towards achieving his goal by winning the EBU title against local favourite Alfano.
Dubbed “The Flash” Laamouz has an eye-catching record of 16 wins and just one defeat from the 17 bouts he disputed, with seven of those victories coming via a knock-out.
For Laamouz, the build-up to this fight has been quite different due to COVID-19 but he is still confident of completing the job against Lanzano on Friday night.
“COVID-19 had a huge effect on my preparation,” Laamouz said.
“Normally I travel to the UK to train and spare for my fights but this time I couldn’t do that due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, I found different ways to prepare for this title fight.
“I’m always in shape. So, I trained with the top in Malta and mixed my training with the likes of Scott Dixon Steve Martin Kerstin Bown and many other locals. They all helped me all the way and motivated me.
“Hopefully, all the work I have put in will help me towards winning the title.”
On his part, Patrick Schaerrer, Laamouz’s manager, feels that his boxer is up to the task at hand.
“This is a huge opportunity for Haithem to take his career to the next level,” he said.
“I am confident in his abilities to be successful against Alfano.”
