Unbeaten Ukrainian left-hander Taras Shelestyuk, who lives and trains in Los Angeles, and is also an undefeated welterweight Gabriel Maestre weighed exactly 147 pounds on the eve of their 12-round bout in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The fight was sanctioned by the WBA as a semi-final eliminator.
Shelestyuk (19-0, 11 KOs) fought his first 18 pro fights in the United States since debuting in Verona in March 2013 after winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. The 36-year-old challenger traveled to Mexico for his latest fight, knocking out Ernesto Espana in the tenth round last October in Cancun.
Venezuelan Maestre (4-0, 3 KOs), who currently resides in Barranquilla, Colombia, will enter this fight after a highly questionable unanimous decision victory over Mikal Fox in their fight for the WBA interim welterweight title last August in Minneapolis. Despite the subsequent victory, the WBA stripped him of the belt and ordered him to immediately rematch. Maestre also represented Venezuela twice at the Olympics, but withdrew from the Tokyo Games to pursue his career as a pro instead.
Despite the fact that the fight between Shelestyuk and Maestre has the status of an eliminator, the winner will not automatically receive the right to a title fight. WBA welterweight belt holder Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) is currently preparing to take on WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) in a three-belt unification bout on April 16.
Rajab Butaev (14-0, 11 KOs) currently holds the WBA welterweight "world" title, which he will defend against mandatory challenger Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs). It is reported that the fight will also take place on April 16. The winners of the Spence-Ugas and Butaev-Stanionis bouts must subsequently fight in accordance with the agreement reached between Ugas and Stanionis instead of their own previously scheduled title fight.
The winner of Friday's main event will take second place in the next WBA rankings, which is updated at the end of each month.
