By Jake Donovan
With Deontay Wilder due to soon announce the opponent for his next fight, Vyacheslav Glazkov’s name can officially be removed from the list.
The unbeaten heavyweight contender from Ukraine – who now lives and trains in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - has opted to pass on a shot at the reigning heavyweight titlist, who is due to return to the ring on January 16th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Glazkov was mulling an offer for such an opportunity, but representatives from Main Events informed BoxingScene.com on Thursday that they are no longer in discussion with the Wilder camp.
Wilder will hold a press conference this Saturday in Brooklyn confirm his plans – including the challenger for his third title defense. By that time, Glazkov hopes to have a clearer indication on the status of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight title.
The crown is currently in the possession of Tyson Fury, who earned the World heavyweight championship along with four alphabet titles with a unanimous decision victory over long-reigning champ Wladimir Klitschko on November 28th in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Along with winning those belts comes the obligation to honor the mandatory challengers for each. The same was demanded of Klitschko, who had to negotiate with and agree to terms to face Fury, who was the World Boxing Organization (WBO) mandatory challenger. Glazkov was also due a shot at the time – the IBF mandatory was to have taken place by August 20th – but the sanctioning body agreed to allow the fight due to the rotation of challengers.
Once Fury won the crown, the IBF ordered the champ to begin a 30-day negotiation period with his challenger. However, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva - Glazkov’s promoter – informed the sanctioning body that their side wished to proceed to an immediate purse bid, which can be ordered by either party at any point during such time frame.
The intention behind the move was to provide Glazkov with as much leverage as possible. His team was also attempting to finalize terms for what would have been a showdown with Wilder next month, which would have headlined the 2016 premier of Showtime Championship Boxing.
Had that not panned out – which is now the case – there remained the backup plan of proceeding to the purse bid hearing, which is presently scheduled for December 11.
However, those plans hit a massive bump upon Fury’s declaration that he will ultimately vacate the title. The other part of his winning the championship was waiting out whether or not Klitschko would exercise the rematch clause in their bout contract, which the recently dethroned champ has done.
The reigning king and the former ruler are currently discussing plans for part two, which will take place sometime between April and June, either in Germany or Fury’s home base in England.
The IBF title remains in Fury’s possession for now and could remain that way through the December 11 purse bid hearing at the sanctioning body’s headquarters in New Jersey. Because Main Events opted for an immediate purse bid rather than a negotiation period as quickly as was the case, Fury was not permitted to file for a voluntary exception, a move that could have allowed for a rematch with Klitschko upon approval from the IBF.
Should the December 11 hearing take place, it will allow Fury to mull whatever offer is on the table or vacate the title in favor of a rematch with Klitschko, which is expected to be the case. The unbeaten heavyweight champ is already on record stating he doesn’t intend to take a voluntary fight between now and then.
The point at which he vacates the title is key in whom Glazkov would be ordered to fight. The next highest rated contender is Charles Martin, an unbeaten southpaw who is currently scheduled to face Dominic Breazeale on December 12th in San Antonio.
A win would solidify his place as the first leading candidate to land the fight, whereas an ordered fight with a deadline set any time prior to next Saturday would force him to decline.
The next two highest rated contenders are Erkan Teper – an unbeaten contender from Germany – and Steve Cunningham, who dropped a highly questionable decision to Glazkov in their title eliminator this past March.
Teper (15-0, 10KOs) is coming off of a career-best win, knocking out David Price in two rounds this past July. The 33-year old contender was due to face fellow unbeaten heavyweight Robert Helenius later this month, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Helenius will now face Franz Rill, with the winner already obligated to face Teper as ordered by the European Boxing Union (EBU).
Should neither Martin nor Teper be available, the IBF could wind up with a rematch between Glazkov and Cunningham to fill its eventual vacancy. Cunningham followed up his strong showing in his debatable loss to Glazkov with a controversial 12-round draw in his August clash with Antonio Tarver. The controversy didn’t stem from the final result, but from Tarver testing positive for a banned substance as discovered during random drug testing.
Cunningham had spent more than three years fighting under the Main Events promotional banner before moving on following the loss to Glazkov, though the two sides separated on good terms. The former cruiserweight champ has since signed with adviser Al Haymon, who also represents Wilder among his stable of more than 200 fighters. Given all of that, it only adds to a potential rematch with Glazkov should it come to that.
For now, all that remains in the air is a lot of uncertainty in the heavyweight division outside of Fury-Klitschko II. It remains a mystery whom Wilder will face next month – although this weekend’s press conference in Brooklyn will bring clarity to that picture.
As for Glazkov, all he can do is sit and wait. The unbeaten heavyweight can take comfort in the fact that a title shot is coming. When, where, against whom and for how much are questions that will need to be answered, though none seemingly coming in the near future – a future that doesn’t include as many options as was the case even a few days ago.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
