We went to Spain on 21 November 2025 with one goal: to bring the vacant EBU Silver welterweight title home with Yosif Panov. At Campohermoso Hall in Humanes de Madrid, The Viper faced local favourite Aaron Alhambra. We believed he could win.
After twelve rounds, the belt stayed with the Spaniard. The judges scored it 116–111, 116–111 and 115–112 for Alhambra. The defeat was hard for Yosif and all of us because we had arrived fully convinced we could return with a victory.
Aaron Alhambra and the EBU Silver title
Alhambra was 28 and had reached this opportunity with 17 wins, 2 losses and six consecutive victories. A former Spanish welterweight champion, he had not lost since 2022. Three of his last six wins were by knockout and the other three by unanimous decision.
Before his own crowd, this was his chance to move from national to continental level. Across from him, Panov brought the experience of the UBO world title and victory over Miguel Vázquez. Two boxers with clear ambitions were reaching for the same belt, and only one could take it home.
A strong start was not enough
Yosif started well and landed clean shots in the early rounds. Gradually, Alhambra found his rhythm, began applying pressure and worked to the body. The fight demanded increasing effort, and The Viper’s desire to win every exchange began to cost him dearly.
From our corner’s perspective, Yosif had spent too much energy on individual exchanges and let important closing moments of rounds slip away. He suffered a knockdown in the tenth, by which point we felt fatigue was affecting him significantly.
Fighting for victory until the final bell
Panov kept fighting and finished the final round strongly. It showed his character, but it wasn’t enough to win the title. Hearing the scorecards after so much preparation was hard.
Alhambra executed his game plan and earned the decision. Our responsibility is to identify what we could improve and carry those lessons into the next training camp.
The desire for a rematch remains
After a defeat like this, we work with the fighter to rebuild confidence and set the next goal. Yosif still wants major fights and another title for Bulgaria. Our task is to help him approach that opportunity with better pacing and the benefit of this experience.
We also want a rematch with Alhambra. We will seek an opportunity to make it happen because we believe Panov can win a second meeting. Before that, there is work to do. That is where we will channel both the pain from Spain and the desire to see The Viper’s hand raised again.
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