WBA: Lebedev vs. Shumenov in 120 Days, Winner Faces Dorticos

By Rick Reeno

According to World Boxing Association President Gilberto Mendoza Jr., WBA 'regular' cruiserweight champion Beibut Shumenov (17-2, 11KOs) will have 120 days to face WBA 'super' cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (29-2, 22KOs). The winner will have to take on WBA interim-champion Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20KOs).

All three fighters were in action in the last two days - in three different countries.

On Friday night in France, Dorticos sent a loud message to the entire division when he stopped durable Youri Kalenga in the tenth round of a war. On Saturday night in Russia, Lebedev pulled off knocked off Victor Ramirez in two rounds to unify the WBA/IBF titles, and later that day in Las Vegas, Shumenov got off the floor to stop Junior Wright in the tenth.

Between the three of them, Shumenov is the most inactive - and averages around one fight per year since 2012. He fought once in 2014, winning a controversial decision over BJ Flores. And Saturday's fight was his first appearance of 2016.

Mendoza informed BoxingScene.com that if Shumenov is unable to move forward with that fight, then his organization will be forced to remove him from his mandatory position and immediately order Lebedev vs. Dorticos.

The WBA considers this a tournament of sorts, to establish a single champion in that weight division.