Carlo Magali out, Maxwell Awuku in against Miguel Berchelt

Okay, let’s try this again.

Carlo Magali, who intended to replace original foe Cristian Mijares against Miguel Berchelt next Saturday in Cancun, has been deemed ineligible to fight by the Philippines’ Games and Amusements Board due to the proximity of the planned fight with his last contest on January 13th. Ghana’s Maxwell Awuku has reportedly been tapped to take his place.

Awuku (44-3-1, 30 KO) has spent virtually the entirety of his fifteen-year pro career fighting limited opposition in his native Accra. His two attempts to step up in class resulted in two of his three losses, a 2010 decision defeat to Liam Walsh and a 2015 defeat to Daud Yordan. The only thing he has going for him is that he’s never been stopped.

I will be quite surprised if Berchelt (32-1, 28 KO) doesn’t change that.

With negotiations ongoing between Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares, Berchelt will hopefully face mandatory challenger Mickey Roman once he defeats Awuku. Even short-notice bounce-back fights after injury only get so much slack.