Karoly Balzsay & Stanyslav Kashtanov to fight for vacant WBA Super Middleweight Title

Karoly Balzsay (23-2-0) vs Stanyslav Kashtanov (28-0-0)

Pretty decent match up, but what is going on here? When was Dmitri Sartison relieved of the title? And how the hell did Karoly Balzsay get into a title contention position with no real wins of note since 2009? Seems like an odd pairing for a title fight at Super middleweight IMO, I don't really see how either of these guys managed to get a shot, or why they are fighting for a title that Dmitri Sartison never should have lost.

For as strange a match up as it is, at least it should be closely contested. Balzsay is arguably past his best, but he's still a decent SMW if he's got at least a bit left in the tank. Kashtanov is unbeaten, but doesn't really hold any wins to take note of. I think this fight is destined to be close, and could be decided by the fact that it is taking place in Kashtanov's hometown of Donetsk, Ukraine. Or maybe Kastanov will pull off a victory over his experienced opponent convincingly, like Nikola Sjecloka did against Khoren Gevor the other week.

 

Yeah, you're right. But even though Sartison probably shouldn't have been champ in the first place, I find it odd that they should strip him. I mean, they let Guillermo Jones go about 2 years without fighting, and they didn't even consider stripping him. Viacheslav Senchenko hasn't fought in a similar amount of time, and they haven't mentioned stripping him either. Strange ****ers over at the WBA :-(.

That's probably the most likely reason.

 

Didn't know that. Cheers for clearing it up, I thought it would be somewhat un-characteristic of the WBA to strip him. :good

 

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They were talking about it before Degale fought Groves, weren't they?

I could imagine Degale getting a shot at the winner in mid 2012, after whoever the winner is has defended against the Magee - Barboza winner (Magee in all likelyhood).

 

Yeah, it is a bit ****. I'm not trying to sell the fight, just wondering how it came to be (what happened to Sartison) and who people think will win. It's a tough one to pick, I reckon.