Michel Soro-Magomed Kurbanov vacant title fight reportedly set for July 20th in Marseille

Last week, Brian Castano vacated his WBA “regular” super welterweight title over a contract dispute with Michel Soro. Yesterday, the WBA officially declared the belt vacant and ordered Soro, the “gold” champion, to face #2 Erislandy Lara for the title.

One problem: Lara is already preparing for an August 31st PBC on FOX headliner against Ramon Alvarez. As a result, L’equipe reports that Soro will instead take on #7 Magomed Kurbanov on July 20th in Marseille, France. The winner will then be expected to fight Lara before the end of October.

The 23-year-old Kurbanov (17-0, 11 KO), a former youth world amateur champion, has remained under the radar during his four-year pro career. He was set to fight Shane Mosley in 2017, but “Sugar” thankfully decided to just retire instead. His most notable victory was a decision over Zimbabwean veteran Charles Manyuchi last August.

Also, fun fact! Israil Madrimov is ranked above Kurbanov after three pro fights because the WBA, as stated before, are cretins.

Soro (33-2-1, 22 KO) is eight years older than Kurbanov but is by far the more proven of the two, defeating Glen Tapia and Emmanuele Blandamura before fighting the very capable Castano to a split decision loss in 2017.