By Alexey Sukachev and Andrey Bazdrev

The Nikolai Valuev Cup is less than a day away from its start in Kemerovo, Siberia. Three minor titles will be at stake in this six-fight card, promoted by Alexander Yagupov in assistance with Kirill Pchelnikov and German Titov and organized under the name of the first ever Russian heavyweight champion.

However, the featured bout of the evening has been just recently finalized. Argentinean veteran Jose Alberto Clavero (30-7-1, 15 KOs), who was about to fight highly regarded and highly ranked (WBA #7, WBO #8 and IBF #14) light heavyweight Dmitry Sukhotskiy (16-1, 11 KOs), is now replaced by undefeated Russian super middleweight champion Konstantin Piternov (12-0, 4 KOs). A veteran of more than 300 wins at unpaid ranks Piternov can be a stylistic problem for aggressive slugger Sukhotskiy but will also experience a major leap up in class.

In the other sudden replacement, Aset Aysin (6-0, 3 KOs) of Kazakhstan was replaced by his compatriot Kanat Kartenbaev (10-4-2, 4 KOs) as an opponent for Tajik Sherali Mamadaliev (11-1, 7 KOs).

Other fights:

Featherweights: Vyacheslav Gusev (17-2, 4 KOs), Russia vs. Feliciano Dario Azuaga Ledesma (80-20-2, 65 KOs), Paraguay – for a vacant WBO European 126lb title. Azuaga Ledesma will compete under the Croatian license.

Light heavyweights: Roman Simakov (15-1-1, 8 KOs), Russia vs. Douglas Otieno (22-5, 11 KOs), Kenya – for a vacant WBC ABC 175lb title.

Super Middleweights: Maks Limonov (14-0, 8 KOs), Russia vs. Vasiliy Andriyanov (8-24, 1 KO), Russia – eight rounds

Cruiserweights: Grigoriy Drozd (32-1, 23 KOs), Russia vs. Remigijus Ziausys (13-33-3, 7 KOs), Lithuania – eight tounds.

Tags: Russia Boxing