Murodjon Kakharovich Akhmadaliev

Murodjon Kakharovich Akhmadaliev, known as "MJ," is an Uzbek southpaw whose rise through the super-bantamweight ranks has been defined by power, poise and a run at world titles. Standing 166 cm with a 173 cm reach, Akhmadaliev turned professional in 2018 and quickly built a reputation for early stoppages and steady progression through regional and world-class opposition. He fights out of Indio, California, while retaining strong ties to his birthplace in Namangan, Uzbekistan. Akhmadaliev opened his pro career with a string of emphatic wins in 2018, scoring first-round and fourth-round stoppages before stepping up to capture the vacant WBA Inter-Continental super-bantamweight title with a first-round KO of Ramon Contreras in August. He would retain that regional strap with a ninth-round TKO of Isaac Zarate later that year, leaving little doubt about his finishing ability in the 122-pound division. The decisive moment of Akhmadaliev’s career came on January 30, 2020, when he challenged Daniel Roman for the WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight world titles. Akhmadaliev won a closely contested split decision to become a unified world champion. He followed that breakthrough with successful defenses in his adopted homeland of Uzbekistan and the United States: a fifth-round TKO of Ryosuke Iwasa in Tashkent in April 2021, a unanimous decision over Jose Velásquez in Manchester, New Hampshire, in November 2021, and a dramatic 12th-round TKO of Ronny Rios in San Antonio in June 2022, each listed as defenses of his WBA (Super) and IBF belts. A split-decision defeat to Marlon Tapales on April 8, 2023, cost Akhmadaliev his unified titles, but he returned to the win column later that year with an eighth-round TKO of Kevin Gonzalez. In Monaco on December 14, 2024, Akhmadaliev stopped Ricardo Espinoza Franco in the third round to win the WBA interim super-bantamweight title; the supplied research confirms the victory but does not definitively establish whether he continued to hold that interim crown after subsequent bouts. After the interim-title win he added further stoppage victories, including an eighth-round TKO of Luis Castillo in Guadalajara on May 30, 2025. Akhmadaliev stepped into the biggest fight of his career on September 14, 2025, when he challenged Naoya Inoue for the undisputed super-bantamweight championship (WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring). Inoue retained via unanimous decision. Akhmadaliev most recently moved up to featherweight for a fourth-round TKO of Hegly Mosqueda in Tashkent on May 29, 2026. Across the documented professional record, Akhmadaliev is 15-2 with 12 stoppage victories. He remains an active, accomplished southpaw who has fought at the highest level in the 122-pound division, capturing unified world titles and a recognized WBA interim belt during a career that has alternated between emphatic knockouts and competitive twelve-round wars.