K2 East head updates on Khurtsidze, Nuzhnenko and more
Dmitriy Mikhalchuk
June 2, 2010, 6:05 p.m.
%foto2%Vadim Bukhkalov, the head of K2 East Promotions, commented on the recent status and upcoming future of several most notable fighters from his team in his interview for the Boxnews web portal.
About WBA #5 and WBO #10 middleweight Avtandil Khurtsidze (21-1-2, 12 KOs):
“Several weeks ago we reached an agreement with the WBA mandatory challenger Gennady Golovkin (18-0, 15 KOs) of Kazakhstan to fight for a vacant WBA middleweight title (Felix Sturm was promoted to a “super champion” status). The fight was first scheduled for August or September. But soon the situation has changed drastically and the date of July 24 has popped up. We were offered a fight for this date (which is also the birthday of Kazakhstani president Nursultan Nazarbayev) at Gennady’s backyard. However, Avto has just overcome a tough resistance from Hungarian Mihaly Kotai. He needs to take a considerable rest and he will not be able to recover till July 24 so that we had to decline an offered agreement. Seven weeks aren’t enough to recover and to prepare for an upcoming world title challenge against such a talented fighter as Gennady Golovkin. Avtandil is fighting not only for money, and we were offered a big amount from Kazakhs, but also for future titles. Now we shall wait when Golovkin fights ever dangerous TBA and then we shall go after the winner”.
About former WBA welterweight champion Yuri Nuzhnenko (30-1-1, 14 KOs), currently ranked #12 by the WBA: “Yuri will be back to the ring on July 9. He takes on Matthew Hatton (39-4-2, 15 KOs) who will put his EBU welterweight title at risk for the first time. The fight will take place in Bolton, and Ukrainian fans will have a chance to see it live”.
About junior middleweight contender (WBA #3, WBC #8 and WBO #11) Zaurbek Baysangurov (23-1, 17 KOs): “We are currently negotiating with Don King to bring both Zaurbek and Salambek (4-0, 2 KOs) to America. Devon Alexander is taking on Andrey Kotelnik on Aug. 7, and we hope to find a soft spot in the card for both Baysangurov brothers”.
