After more than a year and a half on the shelf, WBA “super” cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian has an opponent and a pair of tentative dates for his next defense. Andrei Ryabinsky’s World of Boxing won yesterday’s purse bid for Goulamirian’s mandated bout with “gold” champ Aleksei Egorov and aim to stage it on either November 6th or 20th.
The fight could land in Paris, Moscow, or Monte Carlo.
Goulamirian (26-0, 18 KO) has long been the odd man out among cruiserweight champions, steering clear of the major events that kept the rest of the division going. He stopped then-unbeaten Ryad Merhy for the interim title in 2018 and then just kinda fell upwards; he was bumped up to “gold” champ, then “world” after Don King predictably tanked an ordered fight with Beibut Shumenov. Then a fight with Denis Lebedev fell through and Goulamirian got the “super” title Oleksandr Usyk vacated in his move to heavyweight.
He was last seen stopping Constantin Bejenaru in December 2019
Egorov (11-0, 7 KO) was a highly accomplished amateur and has beaten a handful of familiar faces as a pro, including Lateef Kayode and Thomas Oostuizen. He last fought in March 2020, beating future Chris Billam-Smith foe Vasil Ducar by unanimous decision.
Outside of Lawrence Okolie dramatically announcing his arrival among the elite, the division’s kinda gone limp since the WBSS ended, with Yuniel Dorticos inactive and Mairis Briedis talking about moving up in weight. Hopefully this helps get it back in gear.