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Tag Archives: Yunier Dorticos
‘Premier Boxing Champions’ Series Springs Forward With Loaded Slate of Telecasts
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Caribe Promotions and Warriors Boxing Announce Co-Promotional Agreement with WBA Interim Cruiserweight World Champion Yunier Dorticos
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Former Interim Cruiserweight World Champion Youri Kalenga added to “Battle of Casablanca” card
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World amateur champion Mohammad Rabii
To make pro debut at home in main event
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Feb. 18 in Casablanca, Morocco
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 CASABLANCA, Morocco (February 2, 2017) – Former Interim cruiserweight world champion Youri “El Toro” Kalenga will provide chief support February 18 for pro-debuting Moroccan amateur boxing sensation Mohammad Rabii on the “Battle of Casablanca” card, presented by Nowhere2Hyde, at Complexe de Sportif Mohammed V Arena in Casablanca, Morocco.Kalenga (22-3, 15 KOs), fighting out of France by way of The Congo, is currently rated No. 12 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and No. 16 by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The knockout artist takes on Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson (17-11-1, 9 KOs), of Philadelphia, who is a former United States Boxing Association (USBA) and North American Boxing Federation (NABF) champion.
In 2014, Kalenga captured the WBA Interim title with a 12-round split decision over 32-1 Mateusz Masternak in Monaco, followed with a successful title defense in Canada against 12-0 Denton Daley by way of a 12th round technical knockout.
Kalenga has never been in a dull fight. Two of his three career losses have been to current WBA Super cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (26-2), who Kalenga dropped in the fourth round, by way of a 12-round unanimous decision in Russia, and last June he was stopped for the first time in his seven-year pro career by 20-0 Yunier Dorticos in Paris for the Interim WBA strap.
 The 23-year-old Rabii defeated 2016 Olympic gold medalist Daniyar Yeleussinov in the welterweight division championship finale of the 2015 AIBA World Amateur Championships to capture a gold for his native Morocco. Rabii won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, dropping a highly-disputed decision (0-3) in the semifinals to Uzebek boxer Shakhram Giyasov, the eventual silver medalist.The ultra-charismatic Rabii has reached “rock star” status in Morocco, testament by an average of 6-million Moroccans viewing each of Rabbi’s Olympic matches on Arryadia Television. “We are very excited to work with our television partners, Arryadia, on our February 18th show as the first of five shows in 2017 featuring Mohammed Rabii,” promoter Gary Hyde said. “Rabii has the entire nation of Morocco behind him and he will be challenging for top welterweight honors in no time at all.”
Rabii will take on veteran Hungarian boxer Adam “Bad Boy” Mate (24-10, 17 KOs) in the six-round main event.
Also in action on “Battle of Casablanca” will be former World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) world featherweight champion, Simpiwe Vetyeka (29-3, 17 KOs), who is world ranked No. 4 by the WBA, No. 6 by The Ring magazine, and No. 7 by the WBC. The gifted South African faces undefeated Hungarian prospect David Nerna (8-0, 8 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Netherlands light middleweight Gevorg Khatchikian (24-2, 12 KOs) will also be in action against Ugandan Med “Kabona” Sebyala (16-8-1. 13 KOs) in another 10-rounder. Khatchikian, who will be fighting as a 154-pounder for the first time as a professional, has only lost twice as a pro, both to present super middleweight world champions, James Degale (IBF) and Gilberto Ramirez (WBO).
Hyde manages Rabii, Kalanga and Vetyeka.
Tickets are now on sale for the Feb. 18 show in Casablanca.
INFORMATION:
Twitter: @nowhere2hyde,
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Caribe Promotions loses rights to Shumenov-Dorticos WBA cruiserweight title fight; TGB Promotions awarded rights
 LAS VEGAS (January 31, 2017) – The World Boxing Association (WBA) has notified WBA cruiserweight world champion Beibut Shumenov and WBA Interim cruiserweight title-holder Yunier Dorticos, as well as their representatives, that Caribe Promotions has lost its rights to promote the WBA mandated Shumenov vs. Dorticos title fight.Dorticos’ promoter, Caribe Promotions, originally won the Shumenov vs. Dorticos title fight rights last November with a winning purse bid of $350,001, which required a fight date within 90 days. Although rumored to be held in mid-February in either Miami or Las Vegas, Caribe’s ability and willingness to actually promote the fight came into question in January, 2017. The WBA demanded that Caribe confirm its intentions and even granted Caribe additional time to respond, but Caribe failed to file confirmation of a fight date with the WBA. Because Caribe was unable to confirm its intentions, the WBA had little choice but to award rights to the second-highest purse bidder, Tom Brown’s TGB Promotions.
“I last fought May 21st and I have been in the gym since June because I was supposed to fight Lebedev in September,” said a terribly frustrated Shumenov. “But he backed out of the fight with me once again and I have been ready to fight since then. I signed a bout agreement to fight Dorticos on February 11thin Miami, but Dorticos and his promoter disappeared after I signed. They’re full of it; all they do is talk. I can’t wait to knock him out. I am waiting on my manager to call me right now to tell me the new fight date with TGB.”
Caribe Promotions has been forced to also forfeit its $35,000 purse bid deposit with 10-percent off the top going to the WBA and remainder ($31,500) distributed to Shumenov and Dorticos, respectively, on a 75-25 percent basis due to its failure to promote the fight.
Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs), fighting out of Las Vegas by way of Kazakhstan, fought last May 21, when he stopped 15-1-1 Junior Wright in the 10th round of their Las Vegas fight for the vacant WBA World cruiserweight title. The WBA had ruled that the Shumenov-Wright winner would be the mandatory challenger for its “Super” champion, Lebedev, within 90 days, however, it later allowed unified cruiserweight titlist Lebedev (against Shumenov’s strong objections) to fight his International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory defense against challenger Murat Gassiev, effectively mandating an eliminator between Shumenov and Dorticos with that winner to fight the winner of Lebedev-Gassiev. Only days prior to the Lebedev-Gassiev title fight, Lebedev was inexplicably allowed to fight Gassiev without defending his WBA title, as only his IBF belt was on the line. Gassiev (24-0) defeated Lebedev (29-3) by way of a 12-round split decision in Moscow to become the IBF cruiserweight world champion and Lebedev remains the WBA Super cruiserweight world champion, at least for now. The WBA is expected to rule on Shumenov’s objections to Lebedev’s fight against Gassiev, Lebedev’s status and whether Lebedev will remain champion having lost his last fight.
Dorticos has made false claims in the media that Shumenov, who had been waiting for the WBA to rule on his petitions to force Lebedev to fight him without further delay, had been avoiding him. It is ironic now that Dorticos’ own promoter first sought to delay and has now defaulted on the long-awaited confrontation by failing to promote the Shumenov-Dorticos title fight within the WBA deadline.
A former WBA Super light heavyweight world champion, the 33-year-old Shumenov is the first two-division world champion from a Soviet-bloc country.
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page atwww.facebook.com/
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Team Shumenov responds to Lebedev vs. Gassiev world title fight announcement
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LAS VEGAS (August 17,, 2016) – Team Shumenov believes it is worth reviewing recent history enlight of the recent announcement that WBA Super/IBF cruiserweight world champion Denis Lebedev will defend against Murat Gassiev in late November or early December in Russia: A condition for allowing Lebedev to fight IBF cruiserweight champion Victor Emilio Ramirez on May 21, 2016 was that Lebedev had to fight WBA cruiserweight world champion Beibut Shumenov within 120 days. (Lebedev hasn’t made a mandatory defense since April 10, 2015.) Shumenov has done everything to make that fight, while Lebedev has done nothing but run from his mandatory title fight. When it first became obvious in June that Lebedev was trying to avoid his mandated WBA title fight, Shumenov repeatedly requested that the WBA order a purse bid.
Lebedev ignored the WBA and then recently sought, after the WBA deadline had passed, a special permit allowing him to fight Gassiev, which Shumenov officially objected to within 48 hours. WBA Interim cruiserweight world champion Yunier Dorticos has also objected. At this present time, though, Team Shumenov is still waiting to hear the WBA’s ruling in terms of stripping Lebedev if he decides to fight Gassiev instead of Shumenov.
It really is very simple. Shumenov wants to fight Lebedev, who is doing everything he can to avoid it. If Lebedev doesn’t care to meet his obligations and conditions of his prior special permit, he should relinquish his title. Lebedev and his people need to rejoin the rest of us in the real world and stop claiming that Shumenov has not been pushing for this fight.
According to a recent report, Lebedev’s camp members erroneously reported that, “Shumenov is not exactly pushing the issue” (to fight Lebedev next).
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/BeibutShumenov.
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Team Shumenov petitions WBA to declare purse bid for mandatory title fight vs. Lebedev or strip Lebedev of his world cruiserweight title belt
 LAS VEGAS (July 22, 2016) – It has been more than a month since World Boxing Association (WBA) world cruiserweight champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs), based on the much publicized WBA Cruiserweight Tournament rules and regulations, petitioned the WBA to either declare a purse bid for a title fight between WBA Super cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, or strip Lebedev of his title belt for being non-compliant.Last July, Shumenov defeated B.J. Flores by way of a 12-round unanimous decision to become the WBA mandatory challenger for Lebedev, who hasn’t fought a mandatory defense since April 10, 2015.
The WBA issued a resolution this past April that Lebedev, who defeated Victor Emelio Ramirez in May to also become International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion, must fight Shumenov within 120 days of the latter’s May 21, 2016 knockout victory over Junior Wright.
On record for making changes to insure only one world champion in each division, incredibly, the WBA presently has 38 different world title belt holders in only 17 different weight classes. Only three WBA divisions have one world champion – super lightweight, lightweight and light flyweight – and eight have three world titlists, including its cruiserweight division, which presently has world champions in Lebedev, Shumenov and Interim champion Yunier Dorticos, who is the WBA second mandatory challenger.
In an apparent public relations move, the WBA has suddenly declared this month a rash of mandatory defenses, however, declaring and actually making these title fights are two different things, as Shumenov has unfortunately learned. The WBA should have ordered a Lebedev vs. Shumenov purse bid on June 21, 2016, when the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, but the WBA failed to do so. When Shumenov repeated his request for a purse bid in June, the WBA failed once again to act.
WBA Rule D: Purse Bids
1. Call For Purse Bid. Bout participants shall reach an agreement on holding the bout no later than ninety (90) days before the expiration of the mandatory period. To confirm an agreement has been reached, the WBA must receive acceptable bout contracts signed by the boxers certifying they have reached terms for the bout. If no agreement has been reached, the Championships Committee, with the approval of the President, can call for Purse bid. A boxer may also request a purse bid at any time.
Lebedev’s promoter, Andrei Ryabinsky, has been quoted in stories about having a deal in place for his fighter to defend his IBF title first. In effect, the WBA is allowing Lebedev to hold the WBA Super cruiserweight title belt hostage, leveraging it against his IBF crown. Shumenov, who is a former WBA Super light heavyweight champion, has now proudly worn the WBA belt around his waist for a total of nearly five years.
“I was looking forward to fighting Lebedev and I don’t understand his unwillingness and refusal to step in the ring with me,” Shumenov said.
Team Shumenov is extremely disappointed in the WBA’s failure to act on making the fight with Lebedev that it mandated, in addition to being discouraged by the WBA’s failure, after several requests had been made, to either set a purse bid date or strip Lebedev of his world title belt. Not knowing if or when the WBA is finally going to rule has left Shumenov unable to book any fights. The WBA’s failure to enforce its own purse bid rule, or strip Lebedev, has unfairly prevented Shumenov from earning a living while at the peak of his pro boxing career.
Shumenov is the only native Kazakh to be a two-division world champion. Now a resident of Las Vegas, he also represented his native Kazakhstan at the 2004 Olympics in Greece.
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/
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World champion Beibut Shumenov to defend title vs. Junior Wright this Saturday night in Las Vegas
 LAS VEGAS (May 18, 2016) – World Boxing Association (WBA) Interim Cruiserweight World champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs) makes his first title defense this Saturday night (May 21) against WBA No. 11-rated Junior “Hurricane” Wright (15-1-1, 12 KOs) at The Chelsea inside of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.“I’m happy to get the opportunity to fight this Saturday night,” Shumenov said, “but I wish that I could fight more often. I’ve been ready since January. Every training session I gain new knowledge. I am a completely different fighter than in my last fight.”
Shumenov’s last fight was back in July, in which he defeated B.J. Flores (31-1-1, 20 KOs) by 12-round unanimous decision in Las Vegas to capture the vacant WBA Interim title, making the former WBA light heavyweight champion Shumenov the first professional boxer from Kazakhstan to be a two-division world champion.
By becoming the WBA Interim cruiserweight champion, Shumenov also became the No. 1 ranked mandatory challenger for WBA Super cruiserweight titlist Denis Lebedev (28-2, 21 KOs), who also fights this Saturday in Russia against International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Victor Emilio “El Tyson de Abasto” Ramirez (22-2-1, 17 KOs) in a unification match.
The WBA has already mandated that the Lebedev-Ramirez must fight Shumenovwithin 120 days. The WBA, however, has failed to explain why it also declared a WBA “regular” cruiserweight world title fight this Friday night in France between No. 2 Yunier Dorticos and No. 5 Youri Kalenga (since upgraded to No. 3), especially after announcing that it would work this year to have only one world champion in each weight class.
Shumenov, of course, is risking his mandatory position by fighting Wright, the former 5-time Chicago Golden Gloves champion. “I need to stay active,” Shumenov explained why he’s taking such a risk. “Every fight, I gain experience and it also helps me develop my fighting skills.”
 The 12-round Shumenov vs. Wright title fight is on the non-televised portion of The Cosmopolitan show.
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page atwww.facebook.com/
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WBA Interim cruiserweight world champion & Mandatory challenger Beibut Shumenov protests Dorticos-Kalenga WBA “regular” world cruiserweight title fight
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LAS VEGAS (April 29, 2016) – World Boxing Association (WBA) Interim cruiserweight world champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs), the only Kazakhstan-native to hold world titles in two different weight classes, is disputing the WBA’s sanctioning of the WBA “regular” cruiserweight world championship fight, May 20 in Paris, between two lower-ranked WBA fighters, No. 2 Yunier Dorticos and No. 5 Youri Kalenga (recently upgraded to No. 3). Last July, Shumenov defeated B.J. Flores by way of a 12-round unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for WBA “regular” cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, who was later elevated to “Super” champion.
Lebedev hasn’t fought a mandatory defense in one year, ironically, when he won a 12-round decision over Kalenga, who had earned his world title shot, like Shumenov, by becoming WBA Interim world champion. The WBA granted Lebedev an extension in terms of his due mandatory defense because of the Russian’s unification fight May 21 in Moscow against International Boxing Federation (IBF) title-holder Victor Emelio Ramirez.
“I’m very disappointed the WBA is sanctioning Dorticos-Kalenga for its ‘regular’ cruiserweight title, when I am the No. 1 ranked and current WBA Interim champion,” Shumenov said. “I repeatedly informed the WBA through emails, texts and verbally that I was ready to fight back in January. I preferred to fight Lebedev but I was willing to fight Dorticos or anybody else in the top 15. For the past few months, I’ve been laboring over what I believe is a very bad decision, letting two lower-ranked fighters, the No. 2 and No. 3 guys, fight for the WBA ‘regular’ title. I am shocked and bewildered and do not understand the WBA’s rationale to have either of these fighters declared the WBA ‘regular’ champion without first defeating either Lebedev or me, the Interim champion and No. 1 rank contender.
“I appealed the decision but, so far, the WBA has done little in response to my appeals other than delay and stall before finally ruling that I will fight the Lebedev-Ramirez winner months from now, yet, ignoring my appeal to stop the regular title status of Dorticos-Kalenga and still sanction a fight between them, its No. 2 and No. 3 rated fighters, for the WBA ‘regular’ title. This is unfair to fans, who deserve to watch the best fighting the best, especially when a world championship is at stake! We now have this odd situation where there will be three separate WBA cruiserweight fights in May, all for a different version of WBA world title I just don’t feel anyone should get the WBA ‘regular’ title without first defeating a champion or at least the top-ranked fighter in the division. The WBA knew I was and am ready to fight. Its decision makes no sense and, in my opinion, diminishes the prestige and meaning of the title. I have respect for Dorticos and Kalenga but I think the legitimacy of any world title resulting from a fight between the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked contenders, when the No 1 mandatory contender who already holds the WBA Interim champion is ready and available, to say the least, is highly questionable.
“The WBA told me and announced to the media that it was working to have only one world champion in each division. While I’ve been sitting out the last four months waiting to fight, the WBA has decided to allow six different guys to fight for three WBA cruiserweight world titles, practically on the same day, instead of crowning only one WBA cruiserweight world champion. I look forward to returning to the ring and my manager, Al Haymon, has advised me that I will fight in May and we will announce next week. I want to thank everyone for their support and I apologize to my family, friends, fans and my country, Kazakhstan, for this chaos the WBA has caused that has damaged and delayed my professional boxing career. I will move forward and continue to fight inside the ring, letting my attorneys and manager fight this unfair situation outside the ring.”
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/
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Beibut Shumenov targeting Lebedev-Ramirez cruiserweight Unification title fight winner
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LAS VEGAS (March 22, 2016) – World Boxing Association (WBA) Interim Cruiserweight World champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs) is targeting the May 21st unification title winner between WBA titlist Denis Lebedev(28-2, 21 KOs) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Victor Emilio “El Tyson de Abasto” Ramirez (22-2-1, 17 KOs). When Shumenov defeated B.J. Flores(31-1-1, 20 KOs) last July in Las Vegas, the former WBA light heavyweight champion became WBA Interim champion as well as its No. 1 mandatory contender.
Lebedev, however, hasn’t fought a mandatory fight since last April 10 in which he won a 12-round decision over then Interim WBA champion Youri Kalenga. Lebedev made a voluntary tittle offense last November, stopping Lateef Kayode in the eighth round.
Shumenov will be back in the ring next month (April), full details forthcoming, and then he will challenge the Lebedev-Ramirez winner within 90/120 days of their outcome.
“I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to fight the Lebedev-Ramirez winner because it’s always been my goal to unify the titles,” Shumenov explained. “Lebedev has always been my target. Ramirez is the other fighter I’ve really wanted to fight and my manager tried to make a fight between us, too.
“I’ve been in the gym since my last fight, training hard to perfect my skills. Now, I am a completely different fighter since I fought last July. My team is extremely happy and confident that I can beat all of the other world cruiserweight champions.”
 Last December, Shumenov was scheduled to defend his Interim WBA crown against two-time world cruiserweight champion Krzyesztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk (50-3-1, 36 KOs), but a serious medical issue concerning a family member forced Shumenov to withdraw from the aforementioned fight.
“The opportunity to fight the winner of Lebedev/Ramirez in a big unification fight just came about this year and I didn’t have that option back when I agreed to initially fight Wlodarczyk back in December and I was unable to foresee what would happen to my family personally,” 32-year-old Shumenov said. “I have no problem fighting Wlodarczyk in the future, but only after I fight the Lebedev-Ramirez unification winner. In addition, at any time, I have no problem fighting WBA No. 2-ranked Yunier Dorticos.
“Right now, I’m at my fighting prime yet still improving, training with my coach, Ismael Salas. I want to show the world my skills before I get too old. Literally, I’m ready to fighttomorrow and I’ve been ready for months. I’ll be back in the ring next month and then I’ll get my shot at the Lebedev-Ramirez winner.”
Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/
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