The WBA respects Wladimir Klitschko’s position and sacrifices related to the war in Ukraine, but it will still sanction Dmitry Bivol-Canelo Alvarez as a light heavyweight championship match.

BoxingScene.com has learned that the WBA has determined after internal discussions to move forward with Bivol-Alvarez as a sanctioned title fight, despite pressure from Klitschko, one of its former heavyweight champions, and others to boycott the bout because Bivol is a Russian citizen. Klitschko is from Ukraine, where he and his older brother, Vitali, a former WBC heavyweight champ and mayor of Kyiv, remain committed to fighting Russian forces that have invaded their home country.

The WBA is expected to release a statement Saturday regarding its decision. The WBA ultimately ruled it would be unfair to penalize Bivol and Alvarez by not sanctioning their fight as a championship match.

Bivol has publicly expressed sympathy for innocent Ukrainians killed or otherwise harmed since Russia’s invasion last month. Alvarez moved back up to the light heavyweight division to box Bivol on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the understanding that battling Bivol would afford him an opportunity to win the WBA 175-pound championship.

The 31-year-old Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion, will attempt to become a two-time light heavyweight champion versus Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs). DAZN will stream their main event worldwide.

Though the WBA has agreed to sanction Bivol-Alvarez for its light heavyweight title, Russian boxers aren’t ranked by the Panama City-based governing body.

The WBA removed Russian boxers from all of its rankings last month. That move drew criticism because it was widely viewed as unjustly punishing Russian fighters who haven’t publicly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Like the IBF, WBC and WBO, the WBA won’t sanction title fights in Russia at least until the war in Ukraine ends. The IBF, WBC and WBO have not removed Russian fighters from the respective rankings of those sanctioning organizations.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.