Vincenzo Gualtieri fights in San Jose against Amari Jones for a return to the middleweight world championship race – his opponent is US boxer Amari Jones.
The hot phase has begun: Vincenzo Gualtieri has one of the most important fights of his career coming up this week . On Friday evening (local time), the former IBF world champion will face unbeaten US hopeful Amari Jones in the official IBF middleweight final eliminator in San Jose, California. In Germany, the duel can be seen live on DAZN, with the broadcast starting at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Gualtieri has already been in California for several days in order to prepare himself optimally for the challenge in the USA. The German top middleweight has now arrived in San Jose, where the final phase of preparation is now underway. Under the guidance of trainer Franquis Aldama, Gualtieri is putting the finishing touches to his preparation for the landmark clash, while at the same time the last few grams are falling off so that everything goes according to plan at the official weigh-in on Friday.
The former world champion’s trusted team will be with him in the USA: in addition to coach Aldama, he will be accompanied by cutman and physio Ralph Trampe and Björn Schicke to ensure optimum conditions in the crucial days leading up to the fight.
Challenging task for Gualtieri
For Gualtieri, it is a great opportunity to put himself back in position for a world championship fight with a victory. However, Amari Jones is a challenging task. The 24-year-old American has an unblemished record of 16 wins in 16 fights, 14 of them by knockout, and is regarded as one of the most exciting talents in the international middleweight division. Jones will also be fighting in front of a home crowd at the SAP Center in San Jose – additional motivation for the American promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
But Gualtieri is not traveling to California just to be part of the spectacle. The experienced German knows the pressure of big fights and knows what is at stake: a victory in the USA would be the ticket back to the big world stage of boxing. Friday will show whether Vincenzo Gualtieri can take the next step on his way to his second world title.
Text: Press release / AGON Sports