East Europe Report!

July 24, 2008

By Alexey Sukachev

38-year-old heavyweight Vitaly Shkraba (14-14, 9 KOs) of Soligorsk, Belarus, was found dead on July 18th in his hometown apartment. Shkraba was stabbed to death a day before but, according to sources in the Belarussian law machinery, this tragic event wasn't a murder. Shkraba is believed to commited suicide for yet unknown reasons. Vitaly Shkraba, once a Belurussian heavyweight titlist, was a well-known figure in post-Soviet pro boxing; his career culminating in two losses to Nikolai Valuev in 2001 and 2003 (both by fourth-round TKOs).

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Word from Ukraine is that the reigning WBA light welterweight titlist Andreas ('Andrei' in Ukrainian) Kotelnik (29-2-1, 13 KOs) will make the first defense of his regalia on September 13 in Lviv against optional challenger Norio Kimura (34-5-2, 18 KOs) of Japan. Kotelnik, an underrated and tricky boxer, captured this belt earlier this year via late TKO stoppage of Brit Gavin Rees. Japanese champion Kimura (WBC #10 and WBA #15), an experienced boxer-puncher with a multicolor haircut, has never been stopped and hasn't lost a fight for six years, retaining his national belt record twelve times (twice this year).

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European junior middleweight titlist Zaurbek Baysangurov (19-0, 14 KOs) will reportedly put his belt at stake on September 27 in Kiev, Ukraine. K2 East promoted fighter (IBF #7, WBC #9 and WBA #10) is scheduled to take on long-time British mandatory challenger Jamie Moore (WBC #14, 30-3, 21 KOs) in what seems to be a potential candidate for 2008 Fight of the year award. Both fighters are known for their offensive take-no-prisoners styles of boxing what can easily lead to a devastating rumble. Baysangurov was set to fight Moore last December but that bout was postponed due to Zaur's injury. Baysangurov is 3-0, 2 KOs since then, retaining his title twice versus optional challengers.

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Huge summer is pre-planned for German Titov, the most active Russian boxing promoter and the best of his kind in 2007.

This week, Titov will stage a local show in casino Vodoley, Ekaterinburg, Russia. Headlining the event is WBA #8 super flyweight Timor Shailezov (10-1-1, no KOs). Kyrgyz Shailezov, who is amazingly rated so high despite an apparent lack of significant fights and wins (the only one coming with a dubious majority decision over Leon Moore in his native Bishkek), faces tough journeyman Sergey Yurovskikh (5-7-2, 1 KO). Both fighters collided on May 29th, with a result being an eight-round draw. This bout is also scheduled for eight rounds as well. However, the biggest name on the card will be featured in one of preliminary contests. Coming back from an injury Russian super middleweight contender Denis Inkin (32-0, 24 KOs) will conduct a tune-up fight against Sergey Beloshapkin (6-1, 2 KOs). Inkin, who is ranked #2 by the WBC, #6 by the IBF and #9 by the WBO, is rumored to compete in either title eliminator or championship bout later this year.

On July 31, Titov will present another tune-up featuring WBA #3, WBO #6, IBF #8 and WBC #9 cruiser Grigoriy Drozd (29-1, 22 KOs) versus Kazakh journeyman Tolgat Dosanov (10-9-1, 4 KOs) over eight rounds. Three title fights will headline this huge boxing card in KRK Pyramid, Kazan, promoted conjointly by Titov and Rinat Yusupov. Uzbek Sherzod Husanov (10-0, 5 KOs) will test his skills against Thai Sientung Kietbusaba (10-5, 9 KOs) for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council light middleweight title. Husanov's compatriot Kuvanych Toygonbayev (WBO #12, 29-4-1, 18 KOs) defends his WBO Asia Pacific title in the same weight class against yet-unknown opponent. Young gun Vyacheslav Gusev (15-1, 3 KOs) will try to add an interim version of the WBO intercontinental featherweight belt to the WBA I/C title, already owned by him. Gusev takes on another Thai Chaiyong Sithsaithong (12-2-2, 10 KOs). Taking their parts in the evening will be unbeaten welterweight Vladimir Zykov (18-0, 4 KOs) and Croatian middleweight Ante Bilic (18-2, 9 KOs) both facing limited opposition, and young kayo artist Maks Limonov (5-0, 5 KOs) in a four-rounder. Four more fights will form an undercard.

Finally, on August 29 Stanislav Bukhlov and German Titov will conjointly present a local boxing card in Yugorsk. Undefeated heavyweight prospect Arthur Marabyan (11-0, 4 KOs) clashes against Ukrainian former Olympian Alex Mazikin (12-2-1, 3 KOs) for an interim version of WBO Asian Pacific title. Also, Karen Tevosyan (6-0-3, 4 KOs) is scheduled to take on fellow unbeaten Hugo Hernandez (4-0, 3 KOs) and former amateur standout Anton Solopov (16-2-1, 12 KOs) makes his return to ring after a devastating first-round loss to Daniel Dawson.

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It looks like former WBC light heavyweight champion Montell Griffin (49-7, 30 KOs) is next in line to face Kazakh boxing sensation named Beibut Shumenov. The fight, which is reportedly scheduled on August 2 in Chimkent, Kazakhstan, will be only the 6th professional contest for 24-year old former Olympian. In his previous bouts Shumenov, who is already ranked #15 by the WBO, scored five big wins, all inside the distance, and three of them in the very first stanza.

Shumenov debuted in the paid ranks last November and after three easy wins over nondescript opposition in USA came back home in April to stop Americans Donnell Wiggins (24-11-4, 14 KOs) and Lavell Finger (26-3, 13 KOs) with just 12 days in between. Kazakh fighter represented his nation in 2004 Summer Olympics, but after scoring 34-22 victory over Pole Aleksy Kuziemsky (now highly ranked 175lb contender) he lost his second fight in the round of 16. Shumenov is guided by Kazakhstan's biggest promoter Erik Jailauov, trained by Kenny Adams and had previously sparred with Hasim Rahman, BJ Flores and Jeff Lacy. "He is a beast in the ring and most surely our next big champion. We need no bums to build up his career. Each fight must be a step up in class," says Jailauov to the press. "We have lots of offers about Beibut from a number of promoters and promotional companies but our ultimate goal is to make him the first ever Kazakhstan-based champion of the world."