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As expected, Oleksandr Usyk has vacated his WBA “super” cruiserweight belt in response to the sanctioning body ordering him to face champion-in-recess Denis Lebedev.
El ucaraniano Oleksandr Usyk envió, este miércoles 27 de marzo, una carta al Comité de Campeonatos de la Asociación Mundial de Boxeo, en la cual manifiesta su deseo de combatir en la categoría de los Pesados y, por tal motivo, deja vacante el Súper Campeonato Crucero de la AMB. pic.twitter.com/GKaS27UXug
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) March 27, 2019
Usyk (16-0, 12 KO) is expected to make his heavyweight debut on May 18th against tricky veteran Carlos Takam. Lebedev (32-2, 23 KO) could be reinstated as champion, could face whoever wins between “regular” champ Beibut Shumenov and “interim” champ Arsen Goulamirian, or could fight nobody of note. It’s the WBA, man. Logic don’t apply.
I’ve got a(n optional) word count to fill, so let’s discuss the other belts Usyk will eventually part with. Krzysztof Glowacki is the WBO interim champion, so upgrading either him or Mairis Briedis after they fight on June 15th seems the simplest option. WBC #1 Murat Gassiev is looking at moving to heavyweight, but luckily, #2 Andrew Tabiti and #3 Yuniel Dorticos are already booked to fight each other. The top two IBF cruisers are also Tabiti and Dorticos, so no telling what they’ll do there.
Any wild predictions?