Ola Afolabi gets his first IBO world title opportunity amid the bright lights in Manhattan on Nov. 2, when he faces once-beaten Polish export Lukasz Janik in an undercard feature to the Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens middleweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden.
A 33-year-old London native who now lives in Los Angeles, Afolabi is 19-3-4 in 11 years as a professional, which have included two narrow losses and a draw against WBO title-holder Marco Huck since 2009. Against opponents not named Huck, Afolabi is unbeaten since 2003, with the only loss coming to imminent IBO light heavyweight challenger Allan Green.
Afolabi has beaten a list of familiar names, including former world championship claimants Orlin Norris (TKO 7), Enzo Maccarinelli (KO 9) and Valery Brudov (TKO 5). ProBoxing-Fans.com currently has him ranked number 3 in the cruiserweight division.
Janik enters the bout with a single loss in 27 fights since turning pro in 2006. He’s won 11 straight fights since 2009 while scoring six wins inside the distance and fighting an average of 4.5 rounds per outing.
Afolabi vs. Janik is the second fight we’ve confirmed today as appearing on the Golovkin vs. Stevens card at MSG in November. The first was a clash of unbeaten heavyweights, with Magomed Abudsalamov vs. Mike Perez.
