Brad Foster In Must-Win Fight Against upset-minded Ionut Baluta
Brad Foster was supposed to return to the ring in Telford in April, but with a minor injury he now gets a new fight date and the stakes are slightly higher. Friday, May 20 at York Hall, Foster headlines on BT Sport as he takes on the ‘upset-minded’ and tough Ionut Baluta, which many are calling a ‘must-win fight’ for Lichfield’s Foster should he have aspirations of European title level and above.
The former British and Commonwealth Champion Brad Foster (14-1-2) suffered his sole career defeat to European super-bantamweight champion Jason Cunningham last time out via decision and is now looking to rejuvenate his career by claiming the WBC International Title against Ionut Baluta who would be his best win to date.
Foster has some decent names to his resume such as James Beech, Josh Wale, Lucien Reid and Ashley Lane, which includes winning the Lonsdale belt outright, but Baluta is a real challenge and a fight that will really tell us whether Brad Foster has the minerals to exceed domestic level.
Romania’s Baluta (14-3) is no stranger to being the underdog. His first international outing as the away fighter was in 2019 when he upset Kyle Williams on a small-hall show. Baluta truly shocked the world right before the pandemic when he claimed an 8-round unanimous decision win as a 10-1 underdog over former world champion TJ Doheny in Dubai in what was meant to be a relatively easy comeback fight.
Baluta pulled off a third away corner job in a row when he stopped Irish Olympian, David Oliver Joyce, inside 3 rounds on a Queensberry card in September 2020. In his last contest, Baluta suffered a majority decision points defeat in a razor-tight contest to eventual world title challenger Michael Conlan who is a consensus world level fighter proving just how good Baluta is.
A huge task lies ahead for Brad Foster in Bethnal Green and one that he may not be able to overcome.
Brad Foster vs Ionut Baluta: Friday, May 20 at York Hall and Live on BT Sport 2 from 7 pm BST
