By Aus-Boxing.com

BOTH Bilal Akkawy and Kerry Hope weighed inside the super middleweight limit ahead of their regional title fight on Sunday afternoon.

The 23-year-old Akkawy, who is twelve years Hope’s junior, looked confident, tipping the scales at a trim 76.00 kilograms even. Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Hope weighed in slightly heavier, weighing in officially at 76.20 kilograms.

Event promoter Paul Nasari spoke enthusiastically about the prospect versus veteran matchup, which will take place at Sydney’s Club Punchbowl.

“The Akkawy camp like to go quietly about their business,” said Nasari to Aus-Boxing. “I am aware of a number of other ranked opponents the Akkawy camp wanted to fight, but we were able to lock this one in early and both fighters have had close to a ten week lead time, which should make for a great fight.”

“I have seen Akkawy train and spar, he has an incredible amount of talent and power,” he continued. “That said, Kerry Hope has a great record, is very experienced and still has a lot in him. This will be a great fight for the Australian boxing community.”

The initial card, which was slated for a day earlier at Sydney’s Olympic Park, originally featured a mouth-watering Commonwealth title clash between OPBF welterweight ruler Jack Brubaker and former Olympian Cameron Hammond, as well as an Australian lightweight title fight between promising prospect Haithem Laamouz and Issaka Issah. However, injuries suffered by both Brubaker and Laamouz derailed those fights.

As Nasari admits, withdrawals are commonplace when promoting professional boxing – and for that reason – the long serving Sydney-based promoter highlights the importance of stacking his cards from top-to-bottom.

“It’s part and parcel of the fight game,” he concluded. “That’s why as the promoter, we have to stack this card because you have to allow for injuries. It can turn into a disaster.”

“One thing I am always worried about is ensuring that the paying public are getting their value for money.”

Weigh-In Results:

Bilal Akkawy 76.00 vs. Kerry Hope 76.20
WBA Oceania super middleweight title

Joel Brunker 59.00 vs. Soranarai Sor Dangkhru 56.90

Photo: Peter McDermott Photography