I respectfully disagree. History is much kinder to those seeking to challenge themselves rather than take an easy road disguised as an alphabet title defense.
Leapai should fight Stiverne since he is ranked number 2. Or Fury , or Chisora. All ranked higher than Leapai. My crystal ball tells me Wlad will go straight in a fight with Leapai and mug off the good guys.
I imagine Wladimir will fight Leapai sometime this year, but it may not be his next fight. If Wladimir were to drop the WBO belt, his haters would say he's ducking Leapai. If he fights Leapai, they'll say he should have dropped the WBO title instead. I'd prefer he fight 3 times per year, I know he wanted to do so in 2013 but the Povetkin promoter wanted Povetkin-Wlad in October rather than late August, so it didn't leave enough time to secure TV dates, venue, opponent, etc. In 2013 he should fight Pulev (IBF mandatory) Leapai (WBO mandatory) and one of the following six: Fury, Adamek, Stiverne, Solis, Arreola, or Wilder.
Is that really so? I only read that if Boytsov won, he'd become WBO mandatory. I haven't read a single statement by the WBO that the winner of the fight (be it Lepai or Boytsov) becomes mandatory. Also, the fight was a 10 rounder, not a 12 round fight like final eliminators usually are. The fight was billed as for the "WBO Pacific HW title" -- nowhere does it mention it's a WBO eliminator?!
If you believe Lepai is a genuine mandatory you know nothing about boxing. You are just a Klitschko fanboy and will defend anything he does. Go back to caster football or ask scene to unban you.
Im looking at the WBO website and it doesn't state anywhere that Leapai is ranked no.1 or a mandatory challenger.