On September 19, in Florence (Italy), the vacant IBF Intercontinental super featherweight title will be on the line.
The contenders will be former EBU European champion Devis Boschiero (Italy, 47-6-2 with 21 wins within the distance) and Ivan Tomas (Spain, 9-0-1 ).
On paper Boschiero is the favorite, but he doesn’t underrate his opponent: “My trainer Gino Freo saw Ivan Tomas’ fights and told me that the key to beat him is to attack him continuously and that’s my forte.
“I will beat him because I want a shot at the world title. I was robbed against WBC super featherweight champion Takahiro Ao back in 2011. I regret that I never got a rematch or another shot at the WBC belt against another champion.
“I’m 38 years old and I plan to box until 40. I have to hurry up. I want a world title shot as soon as possible. IBF champion Tevin Farmer would be the best opponent for me, I have seen him fight many times and I know that I can beat him.”
Ivan Tomas is not impressed by his co-challenger: “Boschiero is an outstanding fighter, has a lot of experience and I respect him. He throws a lot of punches and likes to put pressure on his opponent, but I will prevent him from doing that using my jab to keep him at distance
“. Also, I will dictate the pace of the fight. Finally, I can box with an orthodox guard and with a right guard. For this reason, many people think that I am a left handed.
“I’m not. I can use both hands. In my fight against Spanish lightweight champion Franck Urquiaga I was called at the last minute and many people (including Urquiaga) thought that I would have been easy to handle.
“I was not. I think I did enough to win and one judge agreed with me scoring the fight 96-95 in my favor. The other two judges scored it 95-95 and the fight was declared a draw.”
The September 19 event is promoted by Opi Since 82, Matchroom Boxing Italy and DAZN which will stream it live. The location is Tuscany Hall, a beautiful theater which can seat 1,200 spectators.