Promoter of the WBO International lightweight champion Denis Berinchik (18-0, 9 KOs) Alexander Krasyuk reacted to the WBO’s decision to compete for its vacant lightweight belt between a Ukrainian and a Mexican Emmanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs).
“Let’s put it this way: the opportunity did not arise, but we ourselves created it through painstaking work, each on our own front. Among all the boxers in the WBO ranking, Denis actually deserves this fight the most, and both the WBO President and the Board of Directors recognize this. He fought nine times for the WBO International title, and once fought for another [regional] belt.
A total of ten times Denis competed in fights where he had WBO belts, and this in itself is several times greater than the necessary conditions and requirements for a boxer to be appointed an official challenger.
In addition, Denis fought three times with boxers who were in the top 15 rankings, and the condition is at least one such fight. For five years in a row I have represented Denis at the annual WBO congresses as a nominee for contender status, and now on the sixth we are already close to achieving this goal.
I would not say that Navarrete is more rated or more experienced than Denis. He actually received the status of a contender for the vacant WBO belt in the lower weight as a super champion and took advantage of the right granted to super champions by the World Boxing Organization when moving up to the top weight.
That is, Navarrete, our super champion, is one weight lower than Denis Berinchik. Alexander Usik once took advantage of this right when he got the opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua.
Denis and Egor Golub knew their potential opponent since November 2023 and made preliminary preparations for him. Now Denis and the team are already in Spain for a preliminary training camp in Spain. We hope that in the near future we will agree on the main parameters of the fight and will be happy to announce the conclusion of the agreement publicly,” Krasyuk said.
