Abril now a free agent, ready to earn his title back

Former lightweight titlist, Richar Abril, 33, has officially been out of action for more than a year after battles with dengue fever forced him out of a couple fights with Derry Mathews, which eventually caused the WBA to strip Abril of his world title. Op top of that problem, Abril had been battling his promotional company, something his lawyer Greg Bloom says is all in the rear view mirror now.

"Richar is now a free agent and can look forward to getting back in the ring in the near future," Bloom told World Boxing News.

"He wants his world title back and now that everything is behind him, Richar is looking forward to facing the top fighters in the division. We are currently in discussions with a few potential new promoters and Richar will soon be back in his rightful place as champion."

According to Bloom, Abril has his sights set on an early 2016 return where he'd like to shake off some rust in a 6-8 rounder before going right after the top names in the division.

"Richar wants those big names eventually," said Bloom. "He wants to take on the likes of Perez, Crolla, Linares, Mitchell, Flanagan and Mathews at some point next year and I have no doubt that he will be a world title holder once again in the near future."

Abril, like many others from the Cuban school of boxing, isn't really much of an attraction. He's a more than capable technician who is quite savvy, but surely doesn't draw a crowd and has the style that can quickly stink out a fight. Are any of these names going to be eager to just jump in there with Abril when he's mostly irrelevant at this point? Well, he's sure hoping so, but without any affiliation to an even marginal promoter, he may be on the outside looking in.