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On April 21 at the Sport and Congress Center in Schwerin, Germany, former light heavyweight champion Juergen Bräehmer (37-2, 30KOs) will face experienced 30-year-old Namibian boxer Vikapita Meroro (29-3, 9KOs). Meroro has never been stopped but recently lost decision to Isaac Chilemba and Braimah Kamoko. Braehmer returned to the ring in January, after nearly two years off, and stopped Jose Maria Guerrero in four.
WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (41-2, 23KOs) is ready to defend his title against undefeated British contender George Groves (14-0, 11KOs) on May 5th in Erfurt, Germany. Groves secured the mandatory position with the WBO and the winner is going to move forward to a year-end battle with Arthur Abraham. Steiglitz has respect for Groves, but also sees several holes that he plans to expose in the British boxer's style of fighting.
British boxer Dereck Chisora (15-03, 9KOs) believes a battle with WBA "regular" champion Alexander Povetkin (24-0, 16KOs) would be a very tough fight.
World Boxing Organization (WBO) has officially sanctioned the fight between WBO world middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 14KOs) of Russian, and former WBA interim-junior middleweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida (24-7-2, 9KOs) of Japan. There were some critical moments where Pirog's team was not getting a response to their request to approve Ishida as an oppponent.
Junior welterweight contender Ruslan Provodnikov (21-1, 14KOs) will join the training camp of Manny Pacquiao as a sparring partner. Pacquiao will officially begin camp on April 16th, preparing for his scheduled defense of the WBO welterweight title against Timothy Bradley on June 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, promoter/manager Vladimir Hryunov is attempting to make a summer showdown between his unbeaten contender Khabib Allakhverdiev (16-0, 7KOs) and former champion/veteran Zab "Super" Judah (42-7, 29KOs). Hyrunov has already reached out to Kathy Duva of Main Events, who promotes Judah. Hryunov is trying to secure this match for June 2 in Moscow.
Heavyweight Alexander Dimitrenko (32-1, 21KOs) has begun working with new coach for his fight with undefeated Kubrat Pulev (15-0, 7KOs), on May 5th in Erfurt, Germany - for the vacant EBU chamionship. Dimitrenko has hired British trainer Scott Welch, a former professional boxer (22-4, 17KOs) who later became an actor. He had a role in the movie "Snatch" with Brad Pitt. As a pro, Welch fought for the WBO title and lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Henry Akinwande in 1997.
WBA "regular" heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (24-0, 16KOs) will begin training in late April for his upcoming defense, according to his manager Vladimir Hryunov. Povetkin will face former two-time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-7-2, 41KOs) on July 14th in Germany, with the venue still to be determined.
Promoter/manager Vladimir Hryunov is attempting to make to a fight between his unbeaten contender Khabib Allakhverdiev (16-0, 7KOs) and former champion/veteran Zab "Super" Judah (42-7, 29KOs).
According to Vladimir Hryunov, manager of WBA interim-cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (24-1, 18KOs), a fight against former champion Jean Marc Mormeck (36-5, 22KOs) is possible for the first week of June.