By Alexey Sukachev
WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, who defeated his mandatory challenger Youri Kayembre Kalenga in April this year with a close but deserved unanimous decision, will reportedly fight next in November against an opponent to be named soon.
The news has come out of Vadim Kornilov, Lebedev’s manager in his brief talk with TASS media agency. Lebedev, who turns 36 on Aug. 14, should be a part of the show, promoted by the “World of Boxing”, according to Kornilov.
“Denis will start his preparations in September. World of Boxing plans his return in November”, stated Kornilov.
No opponent was named but TBRB #3 Lebedev has already got another mandatory challenger in the WBA #1 cruiser and ex-WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs) of Kazakhstan, who has just squeaked past BJ Flores in an uneventful WBA eliminator with a close unanimous decision (116-112 x3). The fight took place this past Saturday in Las Vegas.
On another interesting note, November 28 is also the date for long-awaited Sergey Kovalev’s homecoming. His next title defense (possibly against Artur Beterbiev or Jean Pascal) will most probably take place in Moscow, which is the base for almost all of the WOB’s installments. While no mention was named about a unified card by any parties, rumours, circling around local boxing message boards, point out such a possibility.
Lebedev is 27-1, 20 KOs, and is expected to make the fourth defense of his belt. While it has been previously announced that his kayo loss to Guillermo Jones was reversed to a “No Contest”, BoxRec still lists Lebedev’s record as 27-2, with 20 KOs.
