Boxing: Coupé, Jkitou and Samaké chase titles this weekend

Three French boxers have a belt on the line this weekend. Bilel Jkitou goes first on Friday night in Clichy, just outside Paris, for the IBA middleweight title. Seydi Coupé challenges Viddal Riley for the EBU European cruiserweight title at OVO Arena Wembley in London, and Bakary Samaké tries to win back the WBC Silver super welterweight belt on Saturday in Levallois-Perret.

Coupé the challenger at Wembley

The Roubaix fighter, who boxes out of BC Roubaisien under trainer Bilal Hamdoud, faces an Englishman who is also unbeaten after the same number of fights: both are 14-0. Riley, trained by his father Derrick, is making the first defence of his European belt and is ranked No. 2 by the IBF and No. 5 by the WBC. Coupé, a former French champion who also holds the EBU Silver title, says he has wanted this European shot for a long time. To prepare for a busy, mobile opponent, he spent around ten days in Dubai sparring with light heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol, and also worked with Cheavon Clarke, a former Riley opponent. He says being the outsider fires him up. The 12-round fight tops a DAZN card.

Jkitou and Samaké at home

In Clichy, Bilel Jkitou (21-2) goes after an IBA title he lost to David Papot in 2022. His opponent is Argentina's Gabriel Alberto Corzo (23-1), who went the distance with Josh Kelly, now the IBF super welterweight champion. Jkitou, who gave up his EBU belt and is co-promoting the show with Soheb Bouafia, trained at BAM L'Héritage with coach Azziz Hallab. He describes Corzo as aggressive and unorthodox and plans to wear him down round by round. His long-term target is a WBC world title.

On Saturday at the Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan in Levallois, Bakary Samaké (19-1) fights for the first time since losing on points to Ermal Hadribeaj on May 25 in Germany, a defeat that cost him this same WBC Silver belt. He meets Portugal's Uisma Lima (16-2), an aggressive southpaw. His father and trainer, Issa Samaké, puts that loss down to cramps and poor weight management and calls it a learning experience. Samaké prepared in the Paris region with American sparring partners and is counting on hand speed and counterpunching.

Since that fight, Hadribeaj was clearly beaten by WBC world champion Sebastian Fundora on October 17. A win on Saturday would give Samaké back the belt he lost in the spring. For Coupé, a European title won away from home would be the biggest result of his four years as a pro.