By Ludo Saenz L. Luaces, notifight.com
The light heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA), Beibut Shumenov (9-1, 6 KOs), will be defending his title for the first time, against his mandatory challenger, Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov (22-0, 14 KOs) on July 23, as the main event at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, and will be televised live on ESPN2 (10pm ET/7pm PT).
Shumenov, them champion, stepped on the scale and weighed the division limit at 175-pounds. The challenger Uzelkov came in at 172 pounds.
Shumenov was accompanied by his brother, Chingis, his trainer Kevin Barry and promoter Dan Goossen. The official weigh-in was supervised by the Panamanian Jose Oliver Gomez, chairman of the WBA world rankings.
To win the WBA heavyweight title in just 10 professional fights in January, Shumenov entered the boxing record books for winning a world title at light heavyweight with the least amount of professional fights, shattering the record for Jeff Harding established in 1988, after winning the championship in just 15 professional fights.
The unbeaten and mandatory challenger Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov, 31, is a big puncher and dangerous.