The Rush for Gold will kick off Punching Grace’s 2025 season on February 6 with seven explosive bouts. Headlining the event, NABF super lightweight champion Arthur Biyarslanov will face former world champion Mohamed Mimoune. In the co-main event, two-time Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov will take on French champion David Spilmont. Starting at 6:30 p.m., Albert Ramirez, Mehmet Unal, Christopher Guerrero, Moreno Fendero, and Avery Martin Duval will also be in action at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, with the event broadcast live on PunchingGrace.com and ESPN+.
At the heart of this exciting undercard, Albert Ramirez (19-0, 16 KOs) will defend his WBA International light heavyweight title in a 10-round championship bout against Croatian challenger Marko Calic (15-1, 9 KOs).
The EOTTM protégé, who defeated Artur Ziyatdinov and Adam Deines in 2024, will face a tough test at the Cabaret du Casino. Marko Calic has only one professional loss, which came against unbeaten interim WBO world champion Joshua Buatsi. Since then, Calic has won his last four fights and recently participated in the Olympic qualifiers for the Paris Games.
“Albert is ranked in the top 5 across all associations. It would be easy to wait for the call, but as I often say, we prefer to force the call by giving him real challenges like Calic so he can keep progressing,” commented EOTTM president Camille Estephan.
Another major 10-round light heavyweight duel will feature on the undercard. Montreal-based Olympian from the Rio Games, Mehmet Unal (11-0, 9 KOs), will take a step up in competition against veteran and Beijing Olympic participant Ezequiel Maderna (31-13, 21 KOs). This will be Maderna’s third trip to Montreal, having delivered his best career performance against Imam Khataev last September and previously faced light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev.
“It’s a significant leap in competition for Mehmet. Maderna has faced everyone and is often the one who separates the real prospects from the pretenders,” said trainer Marc Ramsay.
The night will also mark a milestone for two other EOTTM protégés. Montrealer and IBF #15 welterweight contender Christopher “Machine Gun” Guerrero (12-0, 7 KOs) will fight his first scheduled 10-round bout against Denis “The Menace” Dauti (25-5-2, 9 KOs). Originally from Greece but now representing Switzerland, Dauti has fought across Europe and the Americas. He has never been stopped and is unbeaten in his last eight bouts.
Moreno “The Soldier” Fendero (8-0, 6 KOs), who recently won EOTTM’s 2024 Knockout of the Year and Prospect of the Year awards, will make his debut in an 8-round bout. His opponent, German Edison “The Illyrian” Demaj (13-3-1, 7 KOs), aims to take “The Soldier” into uncharted territory, having never been stopped in 17 professional fights.
Finally, opening the night in the lightweight division, “The Future” Avery Martin Duval (12-0-1, 7 KOs) will aim to remain undefeated against Italian champion and 20-fight veteran Marvin Demollari (14-5-1, 2 KOs).
