By Francisco Salazar

Mickey Bey will defend his world title belt against Denis Shafikov on April 30, Steven Bash told Boxingscene.com on Wednesday morning.

The bout will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be televised on ESPN2. Like the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, Bey-Shafikov will be co-promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank.

Bash told Boxingscene.com that the Bey-Shafikov bout will take place at the Palms Casino or one of the ballrooms inside the MGM Grand.

Bash manages the Russian-born Shafikov.

A purse bid for the fight was avoided when an agreement was reached between representatives of both fighters.

Bey (21-1-1, 10 KOs) won the IBF lightweight title on September 13, defeating Miguel Vazquez by unanimous decision over 12 rounds. Originally from Cleveland, Bey now lives and trains in Las Vegas.

Shafikov (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is coming off an eight round unanimous decision victory over Miguel Angel Mendoza on December 13.

The Russian-born Shafikov suffered his only defeat as a pro at the hands of Vazquez on February 22 of last year. Shafikov became the mandatory challenger when he stopped Rustam Nugaev in the ninth round on August 15.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing