The Spanish based Romanian who loves to upset British fighters faces Olympic star this weekend

Ionut Baluta has a knack for upsetting the odds when he steps into the ring with British and Irish fighters, with the persistent B-side boxer capable of a shock when fighting away from home. 

He returns to action on short notice this weekend to face Peter McGrail on the undercard of Yafai-Rodriguez Jr , set to be shown live on DAZN. 

The 31-year-old stepped into the fray just 17 days before the contest, following Shabaz Masoud pulling out after suffering an injury during training. 

His next opponent would be best placed to be wary of Baluta’s underdog status – and a penchant for beating Merseysiders. The Romanian has already beaten Andrew Cain and Brad Strand, two Scousers that fight out of Everton Red Triangle, the very same gym where McGrail is based. 

Both fighters were favourites heading into their respective contests, with Baluta winning both times via controversial split decisions. 

His victory over Cain was not as polemical as his later win over Strand, and is arguably the more impressive performance. 

Knocked down twice in the first round, the Romanian managed to survive, before growing into the rest of the contest. He put his Liverpudlian opponent down to the floor in the ninth round, showcasing his strong finish to the 10-rounder. 

That was somewhat reflected on the judges’ scorecards : one was unmoved, putting Cain at a peculiar 96-91, whilst the other two scorers saw a much tighter affair, having Baluta as their winner at 94-93 and 95-92. 

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Some pundits, such as former world champion Carl Frampton, thought Cain deserved to have won the contest, a belief strengthened by the result of Baluta’s bout with Strand two years later. 

The WBO European super bantamweight title fight featured far more talking points, Strand cut by a head clash and heavily protesting a knockdown scored against him in the ninth round. 

Replays showed that Baluta accidentally stepped on his opponent’s foot prior to the knockdown, with commentators believing it to have been a slip rather than a knockdown. 

There was further controversy when one of the judges scored the fight 98-91 favour in Baluta; in stark contrast to the 96-94 and 93-97 scores given by his colleagues. 

Baluta took another split decision win against more fancied opposition in the UK, even if most in the Echo Arena in Liverpool disagreed with the result. 

But Baluta’s upset capabilities had long been proven before he faced Cain and Strand. 

In fact, in his first fight on British soil, the Romanian travelled from his current home of Spain to face Kyle Williams for the WBO European bantamweight title. At the time, Williams was 11-1 (3), headlining a card in his hometown of Wolverhampton. 

Whilst Baluta had a similar record, at 11-2, he was an unknown quantity to British fight fans, and he was not taken seriously when he weighed in over three pounds heavier than the bantamweight limit. 

Despite not being eligible for the vacant title on offer, Baluta stunned his opponent by knocking him down in the first round. A cut in the sixth over Williams’ right eye impeded the hometown fighter further, but he was given a lifeline when Baluta had two points deducted for constantly dropping his gumshield from his mouth. 

That led to a tight split decision win for Baluta, with one judge giving the fight to Williams with a score of 96-92, whilst there was more of less consesus between the other two, scoring it at 95-92 and 95-93 in favour of the Romanian. 

Whilst Baluta boasts a healthy record in the UK, winning five bouts in nine visits to Blighty, the biggest shock he managed to pull off was out in the Middle East. 

TJ Doheny was less than a year out from losing his IBF super bantamweight world title when he faced the Romanian in Dubai, and was hoping to rebuild his stock with a win over Baluta in March 2020. 

Although a lot of Baluta’s upsets have been tight decision wins, his victory over Doheny was far more convincing, giving the Romanian a unanimous decision win. Doheny being deducted a point in round eight helped but ultimately did not matter, so overwhelmingly in favour of Baluta were the scores (78-74, 78-74, 77-74). 

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