By Alexey Sukachev
It looks like European cruiserweight champion Grigory Drozd (38-1, 27 KOs) will finally get his second title chance this fall against reigning WBC king Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KOs) of Poland. The fight will most probably land in Moscow, Russia.
“As far as I know, preliminary negotiations have already been conducted with the Polish party”, said Drozd to RSport media agency. “They look to be really interested [in the fight]. The date and the place of the bout are almost agreed upon – Team Wlodarczyk doesn’t mind travelling to Moscow. Most probably, the fight takes its place in September or in October. However, some financial and organizational issues should be worked out before this bout will be officially announced”.
“Am I ready? I’m surely ready for such a fight. Is he a strong opponent? For sure – he is a champion! There are no weak opponents at this level. I want to be number one. I just have no other options [but to become a champion]”.
WBA #3, WBC/WBO #4 and IBF #11 Drozd suffered his only professional loss in 2006 against Firat Arslan in a bid for a vacant WBA interim title. He is 13-0, 8 KOs, since then. Drozd got his biggest win last October, when he dethroned previously undefeated (30-0) Mateusz Masternak, who is Wlodarczyk’s compatriot, with a brilliant eleventh-round TKO.
Meanwhile, Wlodarczyk himself is no stranger to fighting in the Russian capital. He made the fifth defense of his WBC title last June, overcoming a valiant effort from 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist and Drozd’s teammate Rakhim Chakhkiev with the come-from-behind TKO 8.