by Elisinio Castillo
When Cuba's Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20 KO) received the news that his promoter had won the rights to organize his next fight against WBA "regular" champion Beibut Shumenov, the cruiserweight rubbed his hands together and uttered a resounding phrase: "it's about time."
After experiencing problems of all kinds, the man who everyone in Miami know as the "The Knockout Doctor" confirmed that the stars were finally lining up in his favor, and the great moment he's been waiting to secure has finally appeared in front of him.
"It gave me a lot of joy and confidence that I have a working team that supports me," commented Dorticos to George Ebro. "Beibut Shumenov has talked a lot and said bad things about me out there, but the deadline is getting close and the date is now here to climb in the ring with me."
The deadline is none other than the 90 day order that the World Boxing Association (WBA) sets down to carry out a mandatory fight after purse bid. With the purse bid being held on November 14 in Panama City - the fight has to take place by February 14th
Dorticos' teams submitted a bid of $350,000 , while the team behind Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs) put down $201,000.
"I would like it to be here [in Miami] so that all my compatriots can see the Doctor in the most important fight of his career," added Dorticos. "I have my goal well defined and there is no way Shumenov can stop me in my career towards a world title."
Although the WBA "super" cruiserweight champion is the Russia's Denis Lebedev, Shumenov is the "regular"champion and the Cuban puncher is an "interim" champion and that makes him a direct challenger.
According to statements by the WBA hierarchs, the agency's goal is to reduce the number of titles in each division and to put their rankings in order, so a win over Shumenov will open a direct door for Dorticos to face Lebedev.
Although many details need to be confirmed, the idea is to stage Dorticos-Shumenov on the same day as Guillermo Rigondeaux's title defense against Moises Flores. Rigondeaux-Flores is scheduled to take place on February 25th as part of the Miguel Cotto vs. James Kirkland HBO Pay-Per-View. Both Dorticos and Rigondeaux are promoted by Caribe Promotions.
