European junior middleweight titleholder Abass Baraou will defend his title against former EBU beltholder Milan Prat in Paris, France, on April 4.

The two had been tabbed to meet initially on February 12, but that was then pushed back to March 22 before the latest change.

The situation is far from fluid. Originally, Wasserman, who promote Baraou, won the purse bid of €111,305. However, they stepped back and the fight went to Europrom, the second highest bidder, who put up €65,000. They subsequently left it to Jérôme Abiteboul.

EBU rules state that the champion will get 60 percent of the purse and the challenger 40 percent.

It remains to be seen if Wasserman, fronted by the Sauerland brothers, will go ahead with this fight or take Baraou in a separate direction, having won and then surprisingly given up the rights to promote the event.

Baraou (16-1, 9 knockouts) was a talented amateur, he won three German national titles, gold at the European Championships in 2017 and bronze at the 2017 World Championships. He turned professional in April 2018. In just his fifth outing he bested faded former world champion Carlos Molina (UD 12). He remained active and narrowly tasted defeat for the first time against experienced Jack Culcay (SD 12) in an IBF eliminator.

Covid and a lack of opportunities saw the 30-years-old activity slow down. However, he was able to edge past Sam Eggington (MD 12) to win the European title. He has since defended his title against the game but overmatched Macaulay McGowan (UD 12).

Prat (25-1, 19 KOs) was also a good amateur but turned professional at 20. The Frenchman showed early promise beating Fouad El Massoudi (TKO 3), Joel Julio (KO 1) and Amaury Massenaux (TKO 7).

The 25-year-old beat Stephen Danyo (TKO 2) to win the European title but quickly looked to move on to world level and was upset by Slawa Spomer (TKO 10). He has reestablished himself with five wins.