Well that was only 3 months ago. Hardly a long time. Wouldn't be surprised to see him have a fight in December - early 2018.
Magomed Omarov has won the gold medal at the Russian championships in the super-heavyweight division.
I think Vlasov was offered the gig. I think Mario Daser has been offered the fight. Maybe Danny Green and Imre Szello are possible opponents as well. But they keep everything secret, for now! MMA fighter Maldonado wants to fight Lebedev but no offer has been presented to Lebedev's team.
Lebedev turned down the opportunity to compete in the World Boxing Seper Series because of the death of his mother.
Hopefully it's Vlasov... He's been active and beaten some solid guys. That fraud Mario Daser shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a world title - would be a complete disgrace... Likewise and old shot Green or Maldonado would be almost as bad. Szello at least has some amateur pedigree and isn't ancient, but Vlasov would easily be the best of the bunch.
He's won the Australian title now off Willie Nasio. I'd be interested to read a technical assessment of him. I think he has a MMA background, which accounts for his small number of fights as a boxer at 27. Someone like Haumono or Tupou would be good for an Australian belt defense. It would be interesting to see if he can win on wide-ish margin points against a seasoned durable international journeyman.
Anybody venturing a pick on Wach v Miller? This is a tough one to call--they're both coming off wins. On paper, Wach's proven stamina ought to give him the edge. But Miller looked really hard to stop in that last fight against Gerald Washington.
I feel like Wach's best days are behind him, he can probably trouble Miller more than Washington did as Wach sits down on his punches more and has more of a fighter's heart, but Miller being the younger and better boxer should get a ud wide or late tko.