WBA light heavyweight titlist Gabriel Campillo will defend his title for a second time against Beibut Shumenov. Campillo outpointed Shumenov in August. (Photo via blogs.rtve.es)

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The WBA has sanctioned a rematch between light heavyweight titleholder Gabriel Campillo (19-2, 6 KO) and Beibut Shumenov (8-1, 6 KO). From the press release:

The bout will be promoted by KZ and will take place at a date and location to be determined, but in no event later than February 28, 2010.

Beibut Shumenov, who also serves as KZ's president, stated that he was excited to get back in the ring with Campillo. He further noted that he accepts the representation of the Campillo camp that neither Mr. Campillo nor any of his camp violated the WBA's banned substance rules in connection with the first Campillo/Shumenov bout, and has therefore withdrawn any such claim to the contrary that has been made to the WBA.

The latter part of the quote concerns Shumenov's claim that Campillo used steroids or something else in their first bout, which is quite likely a crock. Campillo upset Hugo Garay for the title in June, then came back two months later to win a majority decision over Shumenov on Shumenov's home turf in Kazakhstan. The rematch will probably be in Kazakhstan again, because Shumenov is the lead promoter and that's where the fight is worth the most money.

Shumenov's ambition is really nice to see, as he took on a world title challenge in his ninth pro fight, but he didn't seem to handle the loss particularly well emotionally, and if he loses again to Campillo, he's an 8-2 fighter with only a regional fanbase. In many ways, it's must-win for him the second time around.

That said, there's a great chance he does win. He's a hell of a talent and, well, home field is home field. Campillo winning a close decision was frankly not expected by much of anyone and he'd be extremely lucky to get away with a W in another close bout with Shumenov. I also have the dreadful feeling that if Shumenov were to win the title, he'd essentially hold it hostage and defend against a lot of hand-picked opponents, but that's just a gut feeling.